LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Humana will continue providing health care to military members and their families in the South.

 

The company announced Friday that the Department of Defense re-evaluated an earlier decision to award the contract for Tricare health coverage to UnitedHealth. A congressional agency supported Humana's protest in late 2009.

 

The Pentagon said the contract's potential value is $23.5 billion over more than five years, The Courier-Journal reported.

 

Humana has been the provider for Tricare's South Region for about eight years. The region includes Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee and most of Texas. Eligible military beneficiaries in the Fort Campbell area are also included.

 

Humana raised its profit forecast for 2011 to between $5.95 and $6.15, 25 cents above its previous guidance, as a result of the award.