CVS Health Acquires IlliniCare Health Plan from Centene to Enhance Medicaid and Medicare Advantage Services in Illinois

VCBeat (WeChat ID: vcbeat) has learned that on December 2, 2019, Centene (NYSE: CNC) and CVS Health (NYSE: CVS) jointly announced that CVS Health would acquire IlliniCare Health Plan (IlliniCare), Centene’s subsidiary in Illinois, USA. The transaction involves the sale of Centene’s Medicaid and Medicare Advantage business lines in Illinois.

Centene will retain IlliniCare’s Medicare-Medicaid Alignment Initiative (MMAI) business and IlliniCare’s statewide YouthCare foster care services contract. Additionally, Centene’s Ambetter business in Illinois remains unaffected. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed, and the acquisition is not expected to have a material impact on CVS Health’s earnings.

CVS Health, founded in 1963 and headquartered in Rhode Island, USA, is a leading healthcare innovation company in the United States dedicated to helping people improve their health. Through pharmacy innovations and health services and programs, CVS Health delivers more affordable, accessible, simple, and seamless high-quality care.

CVS Health is community-based, enabling customers to access the care they need at the time and place they need it. The company operates more than 9,800 retail locations, approximately 1,100 walk-in medical clinics, and a leading pharmacy benefits management business, serving over one million patients annually while enhancing specialty pharmacy services and its leading standalone Medicare Part D prescription drug plans. CVS Health also serves approximately 39 million people through consumer-focused traditional health insurance products.

Centene, founded in 1984 and headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri, USA, is a Fortune 100 company. It is a diversified multinational healthcare enterprise that provides a range of services for government-sponsored health insurance programs and commercial healthcare plans.

Centene executes health plans and provides a range of health insurance solutions. It also contracts with other medical and commercial organizations to deliver specialized services, including behavioral health management, care management software, correctional healthcare services, dental benefits management, commercial plans, home-based primary care services, living and health management, vision benefits management, and pharmacy benefits management.

Michael F. Neidorff, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Centene, stated, “Our employees in Illinois have delivered exceptional service to the state’s communities, and we are pleased to reach this agreement with CVS Health, which will allow these employees to continue helping the company’s members improve their health outcomes while delivering value to healthcare providers. We will work closely with CVS Health to ensure a smooth transition for our members, employees, and vendors.”

“Expanding our Medicaid and Medicare Advantage services in Illinois enables us to serve more members through our proven integrated approach,” said Karen S. Lynch, Executive Vice President of CVS Health and President of Aetna. “We look forward to a seamless transition with Centene and to building deeper relationships with the state of Illinois and local providers.”

(Compiled by Jiang Ying)