Centene Corporation Selected for Washington State Medicaid Contract

Centene Corporation (NYSE: CNC) announced that its subsidiary, Coordinated Care Corporation (Coordinated Care), has been selected to contract with the Washington Health Care Authority (HCA) to serve Medicaid beneficiaries in the state. Approximately 840,000 beneficiaries are eligible to be served by the state's Healthy Options managed Medicaid and Basic Health programs. The Healthy Options program currently provides fully capitated, managed care services for approximately 700,000 Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and TANF-related Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) clients. HCA intends to add about 100,000 Medicaid clients who are eligible for Supplemental Security Income (SSI) but who are not dually eligible for Medicare under the new contract at this time. Basic Health currently provides subsidized health care coverage for approximately 40,000 low-income adults (see also Medicare and Medicaid).

"We are pleased and honored to be selected to offer coordinated healthcare services and programs to the people of Washington," said Jesse Hunter, Executive Vice President of Corporate Development and Operating Group Chairman of Centene. "Centene's core philosophy is to provide accessible, high-quality care at a lower cost, and we look forward to working together with the Health Care Authority to execute on this vision."

According to HCA's timetable, next steps will be to finalize contracts with the successful bidders by the end of February. Services for enrollees are expected to commence in the third quarter of 2012.

"Washington will be the 15th state in which Centene operates health plans and is a continued example of Centene's dedication to providing innovative health solutions at the local level for the members and states we serve", said Michael F. Neidorff, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Centene. "We believe our strategic provider partnerships will help us deliver improved health outcomes for our members in a cost-effective manner."

Updates regarding this award will be provided when additional material information becomes available. As a reminder, Centene's 2011 fourth quarter and year-end financial results conference call will be held on February 7, 2012 at 8:30am (Eastern Time).