Missouri Medicaid handed over to corporate criminals

Centene Corp. has won a major contract to manage health care for Medicaid beneficiaries across Missouri, the Clayton-based company announced Wednesday.

Centene lobbied hard for the Missouri Medicaid contract. It has fielded a dozen registered lobbyists, including attorney Chuck Hatfield, one of Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon's closest advisers, according to Missouri Ethics Commission records. Since January 2006, Centene and its executives have given more than $400,000 in campaign contributions to dozens of Missouri politicians.

A growing number of states have privatized their Medicaid programs, paying fixed per-patient rates and letting contractors assume the risk of rising health care costs.

Centene's network of providers tries to cut costly use of emergency rooms by encouraging patients to see primary care physicians, take their medications, keep their follow-up appointments and pursue healthy lifestyles.

But Centene came under scrutiny last year because one of its affiliated businesses, the embattled Missouri contractor SynCare LLC, was ousted as a state contractor after high-profile failures in delivering eligibility assessments of homebound Medicaid patients. Centene provided nearly $2 million in business loans to SynCare and its owner, a former Centene executive.

Read more: http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metro/centene-wins-missouri-medicaid-contract/article_b25fa40d-fdbe-5df7-a776-bf56a640c687.html#ixzz1nEKV4XxP