Here are 20 things to know about Centene, the largest Medicaid managed care organization in the country.
Company Basics
1. Centene was founded in Milwaukee as a nonprofit Medicaid plan in 1984. The plan's original name was Family Hospital Physician Associates.
2. In 1995, the company named Michael Neidorff as president and CEO during its expansion into Indiana. Mr. Neidorff, who is still CEO, would go on to expand the payer into every U.S. state.
3. Family Hospital Physician Associates was rebranded as Centene in 1997, which is also when it moved its headquarters to its current location in St. Louis. The company went public in 2001.
4. Mr. Neidorff is retiring from Centene in 2022, so its future leadership is uncertain. The board of directors has implemented a succession planning initiative to find his successor.
5. Centene covers 26.5 million members, translating to about 1 in every 15 Americans. The payer operates in all 50 states as well as in Spain, the United Kingdom and Central Europe.
6. Centene currently employs about 76,000 workers.
Financial Reports
7. Centene reported $32.4 billion in 2021 third quarter revenue, indicating an 11 percent year-over-year increase.
8. The payer anticipates $135.9 billion to $137.9 billion in total revenue by the end of 2021.
Growth and Acquisitions
9. Centene's largest acquisition was a $17 billion deal to purchase WellCare Health Plans in early 2020. At the time, the move brought 22 million members in 31 health plans under one roof.
10. Later in 2020, Centene acquired Pittsburgh-based specialty pharmacy Pantherx.
11. More recently, Centene moved to purchase behavioral health insurer Magellan Health for $2.2 billion.
12. On the international front, Centene is considering scaling back its efforts to better focus on its U.S. business.
Pharmacy Benefits Management
13. Up until 2021, Centene's pharmacy benefits management approach was defined by a partnership with RxAdvance. The pharmacy benefits manager worked closely with Envolve, Centene's health solutions division.
14. In 2019, Centene shifted away from CVS Caremark and relied on RxAdvance as its PBM.
15. In 2021, Centene was investigated by four states for using its PBMs to overcharge state Medicaid programs. The payer settled with each state the same year.
16. Since the settlements, Centene announced its decision to outsource its PBM business after its current in-house contract expires in 2023. That would mean PBMs would compete for a contract that includes $30 billion in annual drug spending.
Rankings, Ratings and Awards
17. Centene is ranked 24th on the 2021 Fortune 500 list, jumping up from 42 in 2020. The payer ranks 207 on Fortune's Global 2000 list.
18. The payer also earned recognition from Fortune as a "World's Most Admired Company" and was featured on its 2020 Change the World List.
19. Centene was recognized by Forbes as the 14th best company to adjust to the COVID-19 pandemic out of the country's largest 100 employers.
20. Centene holds a Committee on Operating Rules for Information Exchange certification and a collection of accreditations from both the National Committee for Quality Assurance and the Utilization Review Accreditation Commission.