| Advisory opinion request as to whether the Code of Governmental Ethics would prohibit Mark Leiker from working for UnitedHealth Group following the termination of his employment with the Louisiana Department of Health. |
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Mark Leiker is currently employed by LDH as a Medicaid Program Manager 1-A in the Program Operations & Compliance section. His duties include serving as a behavioral health subject matter expert within Medicaid, collaborating as needed with the Office of Behavioral Health (OBH) staff and external stakeholders; serving as a Medicaid representative on task forces and committees; serving as liaison between Medicaid and OBH to ensure monitoring of the managed care organization (MCO) contracts; reviewing and analyzing behavioral health reports submitted by the MCOs to identify potential noncompliance issues; and resolving provider complaints.
Mr. Leiker has applied for a job with UnitedHealth Group for the position of Regional Executive Director, Product Strategy and Growth, Southeast Region. In this role, he would supervise the Behavioral Health Director for UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of Louisiana (UHC Plan of Louisiana), which is one of the MCOs currently contracted with LDH to cover Medicaid services in Louisiana. Through Mr. Leiker's employment with LDH, he was not involved with the Requests for Proposals for UHC Plan of Louisiana's new MCO contract, nor has he been involved in the selection process for the awarding of its new managed care contract. However, Mr. Leiker does serve as a secondary reviewer of quarterly and annual behavioral health reports submitted by UHC Plan of Louisiana for potential noncompliance issues.
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Section 1121B of the Ethics Code prohibits a former public employee, for a period of two years following the termination of his public employment, from assisting another person, for compensation, in a transaction involving the agency of the former public employee, in which the public employee participated at any time during his public employment. Additionally, Section 1121B prohibits a former public employee, for a period of two years following the termination of his public employment, from rendering the same service which he rendered during his public employment on a contractual basis to, for, or on behalf of his former agency.
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Adopt the proposed advisory opinion.
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| Assigned Attorney: |
Jennifer Land |
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