WellCare Receives Notice of Award to Serve MO HealthNet Managed Care (Medicaid) Program Statewide

COLUMBIA, Mo. and TAMPA, Fla., Oct. 18, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Missouri Care, Inc., a subsidiary of WellCare Health Plans, Inc. (NYSE: WCG), announced today it received a Notice of Award to serve the MO HealthNet Managed Care (Medicaid) program throughout the state. The Missouri Office of Administration, Division of Purchasing presented the Notice of Award to Missouri Care as a result of a statewide competitive bidding process. Services under the new contract are expected to begin on May 1, 2017, with an initial one-year term and four additional one-year renewal options.

Missouri Care has served the state's Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) beneficiaries since 1998, in a 54-county service area in mid-Missouri. In 2015, the state began the process of moving Missouri's MO HealthNet Managed Care (Medicaid) program to a statewide managed care system.

"We are proud to serve all Missourians eligible for MO HealthNet services in partnership with the state, our providers and the communities that we call home," said Lou Gianquinto, Missouri Care president. "Missouri Care has worked diligently to build partnerships with providers and community stakeholders in the new service territories of northern and southern Missouri to support a smooth transition to MO HealthNet Managed Care."

As of June 30, 2016, Missouri Care and WellCare serve approximately 130,000 members in Missouri, including 117,000 MO HealthNet Managed Care (Medicaid) members and 13,000 Medicare Prescription Drug members.

About WellCare Health Plans, Inc.
Headquartered in Tampa, Fla., WellCare Health Plans, Inc. (NYSE: WCG) focuses exclusively on providing government-sponsored managed care services, primarily through Medicaid, Medicare Advantage and Medicare Prescription Drug Plans, to families, children, seniors and individuals with complex medical needs. WellCare serves approximately 3.8 million members nationwide as of June 30, 2016. For more information about WellCare, please visit the company's website at www.wellcare.com or view the company's videos at https://www.youtube.com/user/WellCareHealthPlan.

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 potential contract to serve the MO HealthNet Managed Care program  and the date for commencement of services under the MO HealthNet Managed Care program 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, the outcome of any protests and litigation related to the Medicaid awards, the approval of the contract by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, any changes to the program or contract, WellCare's ability to address operational challenges relating to the implementation of the contract requirements, including, but not limited to, meeting the requirements of readiness reviews, WellCare's progress on top priorities such as improving health care quality and access, ensuring a competitive cost position, and delivering prudent, profitable growth, WellCare's ability to effectively estimate and manage growth, WellCare's ability to meet the requirements of readiness reviews, potential reductions in Medicaid 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, and WellCare's ability to comply with the terms of the Corporate Integrity Agreement. 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 ("SEC"), 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, 2015, and the Company's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the period ended June 30, 2016, and other filings by WellCare with the SEC, 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 undertakes no duty to update these forward-looking statements to reflect any future events, developments, or otherwise.

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SOURCE WellCare Health Plans, Inc.