ST. PAUL — A Minnesota judge dealt UCare a blow Thursday in its legal quest to keep a critical state contract, denying the Minneapolis company’s request to halt an upcoming registration period for public health care programs.

UCare sued state officials last month after losing in a competitive bid for contracts to cover hundreds of thousands of low-income Minnesota residents, arguing the state cut it out arbitrarily and asking the court to both restore some of its contracts and delay sign-ups for those programs scheduled to begin Friday.

The health insurance company’s case can still proceed to trial even after Ramsey County District Judge Robert Awsumb denied its request for an injunction. In his order, Awsumb wrote that the state and other health plans need time to begin preparing to shift UCare’s estimated 370,000 customers to new plans — a massive undertaking that could result in costly delays if the sign-up date was pushed back.

UCare will still get a chance to air its claims that the state was wrong not to offer a contract covering residents on MinnesotaCare or Medical Assistance. But without crucial information that could shed light on the state’s competitive bid such as scores for the companies who submitted applications — Awsumb said he couldn’t delay the registration period, as UCare wished.

“The court intends to provide a forum for that review,” he wrote. “It would be imprudent, however, for the court to prejudge the result in UCare’s favor based on the limited evidence and incomplete record available at this time.”