WellCare Achieves Year-Over-Year Improvements in Latest Medicare Star Ratings

PR Newswire

TAMPA, Fla., Oct. 10, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- WellCare Health Plans, Inc. (NYSE: WCG) announced today its overall Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Medicare Star Ratings improved for plan year 2019. More than 40 percent of WellCare's June 30, 2018 Medicare Advantage members were in a plan with an overall rating of 4.0 Stars or higher.

Each October, CMS releases its Medicare Star Ratings to rank the performance and quality of Medicare Advantage and Medicare Prescription Drug Plans to help beneficiaries and their families compare plans. Star Ratings are calculated using a scale of 1.0 to 5.0 (with 5.0 being the highest) and may change from year to year.

Among this year's highlights:

WellCare attained its first plan with a 4.5-Star Rating in Houston, Texas;
Three WellCare plans achieved an overall 4.0-Star Rating, including Florida, New York/Maine and California, which reflects an additional plan with a 4.0-Star Rating since 2018;
Five WellCare plans achieved an overall 3.5-Star Rating;
No WellCare plans received an overall Star Rating below 3.0.

"We're pleased with our most recent CMS Medicare Star Ratings, which reflect the company's strongest performance to date," said Ken Burdick, WellCare's chief executive officer. "WellCare is committed to improving the quality of our Medicare plans to ensure our members have access to high-quality, affordable healthcare. We made significant investments in process improvements, quality programs and our people, and we expect to expand and enhance our provider relationships, while investing in new product offerings to help advance our quality goals for plan year 2020 and beyond."

For more information about CMS Star Ratings, visit: www.medicare.gov.

For more information about WellCare's 2019 Medicare offerings, visit www.WellCareNow.com or call toll-free at 1-877-823-8267 (TTY: 711). Hours are from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., local time, seven days a week.

About WellCare Health Plans, Inc.
Headquartered in Tampa, Fla., WellCare Health Plans, Inc. (NYSE: WCG) focuses exclusively on providing government-sponsored managed care services to families, children, seniors and individuals with complex medical needs primarily through Medicaid, Medicare Advantage and Medicare Prescription Drug Plans, as well as individuals in the Health Insurance Marketplace. WellCare serves approximately 5.5 million members nationwide as of September 1, 2018. For more information about WellCare, please visit the company's website at www.wellcare.com.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This news release contains "forward-looking" statements that are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Statements that are predictive in nature, that depend upon or refer to future events or conditions, or that include words such as "expects," "will," "anticipates," "intends," "plans," "believes," "estimates," and similar expressions are forward-looking statements. For example, statements regarding the company's ability to improve quality, contain forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause WellCare's actual future results to differ materially from those projected or contemplated in the forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to WellCare's ability to improve healthcare quality and access, in particular, our MA plan serving Hawaii and Louisiana received a Star Rating of 2.5 for its Part D operations for 2018 and 2019 and could be subject to termination by CMS if the Star Rating does not improve for 2020, WellCare's progress on top priorities such as integrating care management, advocating for our members, building advanced relationships with providers and government partners, ensuring a competitive cost position, and delivering prudent, profitable growth, WellCare's ability to effectively estimate and manage growth, WellCare's ability to effectively execute and integrate acquisitions, potential reductions in Medicaid and Medicare revenue, WellCare's ability to estimate and manage medical benefits expense effectively, including through its vendors, its ability to negotiate actuarially sound rates, especially in new programs with limited experience, the appropriation and payment by state governments of Medicaid premiums receivable, the outcome of any protests and litigation related to Medicaid awards, the approval of Medicaid contracts by CMS, any changes to the programs or contracts, WellCare's ability to address operational challenges related to new business, and WellCare's ability to meet the requirements of readiness reviews. Given the risks and uncertainties inherent in forward-looking statements, any of WellCare's forward-looking statements could be incorrect and investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any of our forward-looking statements. Additional information concerning these and other important risks and uncertainties can be found in the company's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, included under the captions "Forward-Looking Statements" and "Risk Factors" in the company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2017 and Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2018, which contain discussions of WellCare's business and the various factors that may affect it. Subsequent events and developments may cause actual results to differ, perhaps materially, from WellCare's forward-looking statements. WellCare's forward-looking statements speak only as of the date on which the statements are made. WellCare undertakes no duty, and expressly disclaims any obligation, to update these forward-looking statements to reflect any future events, developments or otherwise.

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