Centene’s Enrollment Jumps Thanks To WellCare And Pandemic Enrollment

Bruce Japsen Senior Contributor Oct 27, 2020, 09:20am EDT

Health insurer Centene is benefitting from new Medicaid enrollment amid the spread of Covid-19 and the integration of 

WellCare Health Plans.

Centene, which completed its acquisition WellCare earlier this year to create a national health plan, reported revenue jumped 53% to $29 billion, putting the company on track to eclipse $109 billion in revenue for 2020. That helped profits rise to $568 million in the third quarter compared to earnings attributable to Centene of $95 million in last year’s third quarter.

Centene said Tuesday its overall managed care membership in the third quarter of this year rose by nearly 10 million members, or 65%, to 25.2 million members compared to to 15.3 million total members on September 30, 2019. Of that, Centene’s total Medicaid enrollment increased to 13.1 million in the third quarter compared to 8.7 million in the year-ago period thanks to a boost from the WellCare deal and a boost in Medicaid enrollment as unemployment remains high amid the spread of Covid-19.

“We reported strong third quarter results with revenues up 53% as a result of the WellCare acquisition as well as product and geographic expansions, new programs and growth in many of our states,” Centene chairman and chief executive Michael Neidorff said.

Centene is a larger company as Americans sign up for Medicaid, the health insurance for low income Americans it manages via contracts with states and individual coverage under the Affordable Care Act known as Obamacare. Centene, which bought WellCare Health Plans earlier this year, is now a national health plan providing benefits to 1 in 15 Americans. 

Centene’s third quarter results also included a $398 million benefit related to the Affordable Care Act “risk corridor receivable settlement.” The Supreme Court ruled in April that the federal government was obligated to pay full risk corridor payments to health insurers.

 ”As we benefited from the one-time risk corridor settlement this quarter, we’ve made the decision to reinvest the proceeds in the growth of our business as well as the communities in which we serve and live,” Neidorff said. “Looking ahead, we expect our underlying businesses to continue to perform well in an uncertain environment and remain focused on executing our growth strategy across our diversified healthcare enterprise.”

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