A member of the Limestone County Legislative Delegation has asked Gov. Robert Bentley to delay an $8.3 million contract between the state’s Medicaid agency and Navigant Consulting Inc., a private consulting firm.

The basis of the state’s contract with Navigant is related to the implementation of Regional Care Organizations. RCOs would transition Medicaid from a fee-for-service model to one that provides managed care and are set to assume responsibility for care in the coming year.

In a letter to the governor, State Sen. Bill Holtzclaw, R-Madison, said the contract should be postponed because it now appears the RCOs will cost more than previously anticipated. Holtzclaw is the chairman of the Contract Review Permanent Legislative Oversight Committee.

Thursday’s missive follows a November letter to Bentley in which Holtzclaw requested the delay of another RCO-related contract with the law firm of Capell & Howard, P.C. That contract was worth $1.3 million.

“While the RCO concept was widely supported and enacted by the Legislature, the increased costs associated with the program were not made apparent at the time. … That places the success of the RCO concept at great risk,” Holtzclaw said. “At a minimum, I recommend delaying the execution of these two contracts, totaling more than $9 million combined in taxpayer money, until after the 2017 legislative session, allowing the legislature to determine long-term funding support, and possibly move the current deadline for RCO implementation through legislative act, while we wait for further clarity from the new presidential administration.”

In February 2015, the state received federal approval of the Section 1115 Demonstration Waiver and the promise of $328 million in federal funding over the next three years to implement the RCO plan. State officials previously said about two-thirds of Medicaid patients, or about 650,000 people, will receive care through the new system.