Centene To Pay Texas $166 Million In Medicaid Drug Pricing Settlement

The health insurance giant Centene Co. has settled with Texas and has agreed to pay $165.6 million to the state. Texas is at least the 12th state to settle with St. Louis-based Centene Corp. over allegations that it overcharged Medicaid prescription drug programs. The agreement was made last July 11 but it was made public this week with a copy of the settlement. 

Although a dozen of states have also reached settlements, the $165.6 millions are the biggest amount any state has reached. This agreement is part of a large number of allegations against Centene. This health insurance company is the largest Medicaid managed-care insurer in the country, providing health insurance benefits to 15.4 million enrollees nationwide. 

Several states have accused Centene of overbilling their Medicaid programs for prescription drugs and pharmacy services. The company has denied several times these accusations but, at the same time, Centene has reached agreements with Arkansas, Illinois, Kansas, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Ohio, Texas and Washington for a total of $475 million.