Bruce Japsen Senior Contributor Dec 2, 2019
A CVS/pharmacy store
is seen on October 15, 2010[+]
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CVS Health will buy
Medicaid and Medicare Advantage lines of business owned by
Centene in Illinois as part of a divestiture needed by Centene to win
approval of its WellCare acquisition.
The divestiture by Centene of its IlliniCare
Health Plan subsidiary is the latest effort by the health insurance companies
to win over regulators to their merger. The merger has already “received
approvals from insurance and health care departments from 26 states,” Centene
said Monday.
“The transaction entails the sale
of Centene’s Medicaid and Medicare Advantage lines of
business in Illinois,” Centene said Monday in a statement announcing
the divestiture. “Centene will retain IlliniCare’s Medicare-Medicaid
Alignment Initiative (“MMAI”) business and IlliniCare’s statewide YouthCare
foster care contract, set to commence in February
2020. Centene’s Ambetter business in Illinois is not
affected.”
Financial terms of the IlliniCare transaction
weren’t disclosed Monday.
Centene, which announced plans to buy WellCare
for more than $15 billion earlier this year, said the merger should be
completed in the first half of 2020. “We are continuing to make progress
towards completing our transaction with WellCare and the divestiture of
our IlliniCare Health plan is the next step in that process,” Centene
chairman and chief executive Michael Neidorff said.
The news is good for CVS, which last year
bought the health insurance giant Aetna, because it is amid a fierce battle to
grow its Medicare Advantage business with rivals UnitedHealth Group, Humana and
others. “Expanding our Medicaid and Medicare Advantage presence
in Illinois will allow us to serve more members with our proven
holistic approach that addresses physical, behavioral and social determinants
of care,” Karen Lynch, executive vice president of CVS and president of
Aetna said.
https://www-forbes-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/www.forbes.com/sites/brucejapsen/2019/12/02/cvs-to-buy-divested-centenes-illinois-medicare-advantage-plan/amp/
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