Centene Corporation is a publicly traded managed care company based in St. Louis, Missouri. It serves as an intermediary for government-sponsored and privately insured health care programs. Centene ranked No. 26 on the 2021 Fortune 500 .[2]
Centene was founded by Elizabeth Brinn as the Managed Health Services in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1984.[3] After the death of Brinn, the non-profit organization was sold to investors, with the proceeds going to the Betty Brinn Foundation, which subsequently became a major shareholder in Centene. In 1996, Michael F. Neidorff joined the company as chief executive.[4]
Centene went public in December 2001.[5] In 2006, the firm acquired US Script, a pharmacy benefits manager.[6] The company later merged US Script with subsidiaries to form its Envolve divisions.[6] In 2011, the firm formed Centurion, a provider of correctional health care services, as a joint venture with MHM Services.[6] In 2018, it acquired MHM Services, including its stake in Centurion.[6] Centene began offering state-run Medicaid programs. through Affordable Care Act exchanges in 2014.[7]
On July 2, 2015, Centene announced it would acquire Health Net.[8][9][10] In March 2016, it finalized its acquisition [11] On September 12, 2017, it announced that it would acquire Fidelis Care, a nonprofit insurer in New York, for US$3.75 billion.[12] In March 2019, it announced plans to acquire WellCare for US$17.3 billion.[13][14] On January 4, 2021, it was announced that it would acquire Magellan Health for $2.2 billion.[15] On January 4, 2022, the acquisition was completed.[16]
In the United Kingdom, Centene began to acquire local healthcare services in 2017.[17] In 2019, Centene, through its subsidiary MH Services, took a 40% stake in Circle Health,[17] as part of a deal which created a national network of over 50 private hospitals.[18] In early 2021, Operose Health, a UK subsidiary of Centene, took over a group of London practices, AT Medics.[19]
In May 2022, Centene announced that they have divested two pharmacy organisations as the company exits the pharmacy benefit management business. Centene divested Mangellan Rx and PANTHERx Rare for a total of $2.8 billion.[20]