Centene Settles

Centene Corp. has agreed to pay Ohio $88.3 million dollars…to settle a lawsuit…claiming the pharmacy benefit manager overbilled the state’s Medicaid department for pharmacy services it provided. Attorney General, Dave Yost tells the media…the settlement is the first and largest in the nation…secured by a state attorney general against a pharmacy benefit manager…which are third-party companies that manage health care plans, including Medicaid…serving 2.9 million people in Ohio. Yost’s suit claims Centene and its subsidiary, Buckeye Health Plan, conspired to misrepresent the costs of pharmacy services it provided Ohio, which includes the prices of prescription drugs. The AG says state investigators uncovered a sophisticated scheme to bill unearned dollars, known only at the top levels of health care companies.