Centene to Pay $144 Mln to Settle Ohio, Miss. Overcharge Claims

(Reuters) - Centene Corp, the nation’s largest Medicaid managed care organization, said Monday that it would pay nearly $144 million to settle claims by Ohio and Mississippi that it overcharged the states’ Medicaid programs for pharmacy benefit management services.

The company will pay $88.3 million to Ohio and $55.5 million to Mississippi, the first such agreements between states and a pharmacy benefit manager.

Centene, which was represented in Ohio by John Zeiger and Marion Little of Zeiger, Tigges & Little, did not admit wrongdoing under either deal.

"I hope that a message is going out to the entire industry across the country that the days of operating behind the curtain as the great Oz are over, and you're working for the people of these states that hire you to bring value and quality and to do it with integrity," Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost said at a press conference.

"We respect the deep and critically important relationships we have with our state partners," said Brent Layton, Centene's President of Health Plans, Markets and Products. "These agreements reflect the significance we place on addressing their concerns and our ongoing commitment to making the delivery of healthcare local, simple and transparent."

As part of its settlement, Ohio, which was represented by outside counsel, including Steven Toll of Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll, Laurence Deas of Liston & Deas and others, secured a "most favored nation" agreement, under which it will be entitled to additional compensation if Centene reaches a more favorable settlement with any other state.

Centene said it was in discussions with Cohen Milstein and Liston & Deas about possible resolutions of similar claims in other states, and had set aside $1.1 billion for that purpose.

"This settlement makes clear that the days of hiding behind a convoluted flow of money and numbers are over," Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch said in a statement.

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