Cowlitz County Corrections Director Brent Fox told the Board of Commissioners that the county has selected Medico (also written as Medeco in meeting materials) as the lowest bidder for inmate medical services and will bring a personal services agreement to the board for approval.

Fox said the county’s current contractor, NafCare, had been charging approximately $2,730,381 per year under the existing arrangement. The Medico proposal, Fox said, would cost $4,000,827 in the first year — a stated increase of roughly 46.5 percent. Years two and three carry 3 percent annual increases, year four a 3.5 percent increase and year five a 4 percent increase, according to Fox’s presentation.

Fox said the county went out to bid after challenges facing NafCare, including litigation in Washington, and that Medico was the lowest responsive bidder. He said the county will not fill one position in the submitted contract this year; that position is tied to the county’s paused Medicaid transformation initiative. Fox told commissioners the county has paused that Medicaid transformation work and would restart once a new contractor is in place; he estimated a potential go‑live date of July 2026.

Commissioners asked about comparable contracts in other Washington jurisdictions and about the relative closeness of other bidders. Fox said Medico already provides services to other jails in the state and that competing contract amounts varied by facility size. He indicated other bidders’ totals were higher (one estimate in the meeting placed another bid around $4.3 million and NafCare closer to $5 million), but Fox did not read a full bid tabulation aloud. County legal counsel and risk‑pool staff have reviewed the contract and the procurement process, Fox said.

Fox also said county staff would gather data from other jurisdictions that have implemented Medicaid billing for jail health services so the county can estimate potential revenue from billing in future years.

The contract award was listed on the next meeting agenda for formal action.

Ending: The board will consider the Medico personal services agreement at its next business meeting; Fox defended the procurement as the result of the competitive bid process and said staff will provide comparative data about Medicaid billing and other jurisdictions as the program moves forward.