ST. LOUIS, Aug. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Centene Corporation
(NYSE: CNC) today announced it is taking additional steps to
further protect members and employees from COVID-19, to educate its
key stakeholders about the benefits of the vaccine, and to prepare
for anticipated vaccine and testing requirements for companies that
hold federal contracts.
Earlier this week, the company requested all employees to
provide proof of their COVID-19 vaccination as soon as possible.
Employees who do not provide proof of vaccination will be required
to participate in regular COVID-19 testing and wear masks at all
times while in company offices. In addition, Centene is delaying
its first phase of the company's return to in-person engagement
from September 13, 2021, until
October 18, 2021, providing
additional time for Centene employees to be vaccinated. Centene
will also require vaccination as a general condition of employment
for all new employees beginning October 1,
2021, as well as require essential business contractors and
subcontractors to provide vaccination attestation prior to entering
Centene offices. As an additional measure of care for our members,
the company will require employees conducting in-home visits or
clinical facility visits with direct member interaction to be fully
vaccinated.
Centene's additional guidance aligns with the federal
government's announcement that all federal workers and onsite
contractors must be vaccinated or be regularly tested, a
requirement that is anticipated will soon apply to all companies
that hold federal contracts. As a leading healthcare company with
contracts related to the federal government, Centene is committed
to following similar guidelines.
Today, Centene also reiterated its commitment to improving
vaccination rates among its members. The company plans to continue
its leadership in this effort through additional comprehensive
education and outreach programs, with a specific emphasis on the
most vulnerable populations.
"We are deeply committed to protecting our members and employees
as the Delta variant continues its spread across the U.S., causing
a new pandemic of the unvaccinated," said Michael Neidorff, Chairman, President and CEO of
Centene. "Our industry must be a leader in addressing vaccine
hesitancy, especially to protect those who cannot safely receive
the inoculation, such as young children and individuals with
compromised immune systems. Key to this goal is a strong
collaboration between the private and public sectors at the
federal, state and local levels."
To address the spread of the Delta variant, the company will
continue to expand key outreach programs it has supported
throughout the pandemic. These initiatives are specifically focused
on promoting awareness of COVID-19 vaccinations to encourage
members, employees and under-resourced communities to receive the
vaccine. These efforts include:
- National Outreach Campaign – Centene is implementing a
nationwide member outreach campaign, asking members to update their
current vaccination status while providing them with aid in
accessing and scheduling vaccines. These efforts include the call
campaign and public service announcement (PSA) initiative announced
on June 8, 2021, which has reached
more than 10 million members.
- Education Campaign with the Pro Football Hall of Fame –
In March of 2021, Centene formed a partnership with the Pro
Football Hall of Fame to increase education around vaccination
benefits through developing and promoting a series of PSAs, and
hosting events around the country with Hall of Famers. The PSAs,
airing on 160 national television networks and digital platforms,
specifically focused on outreach to communities of color.
- Clinical Outreach Program – Centene designed and
implemented a clinical outreach program to address member needs
leveraging a machine-learning algorithm to identify individuals
facing critical social determinants of health challenges. The
algorithm then used geospatial data to consider proximity to
vaccination centers and known medical risks such as chronic
conditions.
- Hispanic Family Equity Fund – In May of 2021, Centene,
through its foundation, the Centene Charitable Foundation, pledged
to match the first $1 million in
corporate donations to the Hispanic Family Equity Fund. The fund,
launched by the Healthy Americas Foundation (HAF), the supporting
organization of the National Alliance for Hispanic Health, aims to
support Hispanic families in the post-pandemic recovery.
- Partnership with the Lyft Vaccine Alliance – Centene
joined the Lyft Vaccine Alliance, which is offering 60 million
rides to and from vaccination sites for low-income, uninsured, and
at-risk communities.
- Academic Research Studying Basis for Vaccine
Decision-Making – Through the Centene Center for Health
Transformation, a research partnership with the Brown School at
Washington University and Duke University Center for Advanced Hindsight,
Centene is studying the basis for decision-making on vaccines to
refine its messaging to members.
- Leveraging Community Partnerships for Local Outreach –
Centene and its local health plans are leveraging community
partnerships such as the National Urban League and local affiliates
and the Office of Tribal Relations to develop tailored, culturally
sensitive campaigns and educational materials for members.
- Supporting Employees – As the COVID-19 pandemic evolves,
keeping Centene employees safe remains a top priority. Following
the national availability of COVID-19 vaccines, Centene established
a conservative, hybrid return to in-person engagement approach for
the fall of 2021. Additionally, in response to the ongoing pandemic
Centene:
-
- Waived all prior authorizations and employee cost sharing for
COVID-19 related screening, testing, treatment and
vaccination.
- Provided up to 10 additional working days of paid leave to
support employees receiving the vaccination, or those employees
caring for a family or household member affected by COVID-19.
- Offered employees with up to a $1,000 discount to their health insurance
premiums for conducting a number of healthy behaviors that included
the COVID-19 vaccination. Provided a one-time payment of
$750 to employees who performed
critical services in Centene offices in 2020.
- Established a Medical Reserve Leave policy to support clinical
staff who wanted to join a medical reserve force and serve their
communities, during the COVID-19 pandemic. The policy supports
clinical staff by providing paid leave and benefits for up to three
months of volunteer service.
About Centene Corporation
Centene Corporation, a
Fortune 25 company, is a leading multi-national healthcare
enterprise that is committed to helping people live healthier
lives. The Company takes a local approach – with local brands and
local teams – to provide fully integrated, high-quality, and
cost-effective services to government-sponsored and commercial
healthcare programs, focusing on under-insured and uninsured
individuals. Centene offers affordable and high-quality
products to nearly 1 in 15 individuals across the nation, including
Medicaid and Medicare members (including Medicare Prescription Drug
Plans) as well as individuals and families served by
the Health Insurance Marketplace, the TRICARE program, and
individuals in correctional facilities. The Company also serves
several international markets, and contracts with other healthcare
and commercial organizations to provide a variety of specialty
services focused on treating the whole
person. Centene focuses on long-term growth and the
development of its people, systems and capabilities so that it can
better serve its members, providers, local communities, and
government partners.
Forward-Looking Statements
All statements,
other than statements of current or historical fact, contained in
this press release are forward-looking statements. Without limiting
the foregoing, forward-looking statements often use words such as
"believe," "anticipate," "plan," "expect," "estimate," "intend,"
"seek," "target," "goal," "may," "will," "would," "could,"
"should," "can," "continue" and other similar words or expressions
(and the negative thereof). Centene (the Company, our, or we)
intends such forward-looking statements to be covered by the
safe-harbor provisions for forward-looking statements contained in
the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, and we are
including this statement for purposes of complying with these
safe-harbor provisions. In particular, these statements include,
without limitation, statements about our future operating or
financial performance, market opportunity, growth strategy,
competition, expected activities in completed and future
acquisitions, including statements about the impact of our proposed
acquisition of Magellan Health (the Magellan Acquisition), our
completed acquisition of WellCare Health Plans, Inc. (WellCare and
such acquisition, the WellCare Acquisition), other recent and
future acquisitions, investments, the adequacy of our available
cash resources and our settlements with Ohio and Mississippi to resolve claims and/or
allegations made by those states with regard to past practices at
Envolve Pharmacy Solutions, Inc. (Envolve), as our pharmacy
benefits manager (PBM) subsidiary, and other possible future claims
and settlements related to the past practices at Envolve and our
ability to settle claims with other states within the reserve
estimate we have recorded and on other acceptable terms, or at all.
These forward-looking statements reflect our current views with
respect to future events and are based on numerous assumptions and
assessments made by us in light of our experience and perception of
historical trends, current conditions, business strategies,
operating environments, future developments and other factors we
believe appropriate. By their nature, forward-looking statements
involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties and are subject
to change because they relate to events and depend on circumstances
that will occur in the future, including economic, regulatory,
competitive and other factors that may cause our or our industry's
actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to
be materially different from any future results, levels of
activity, performance or achievements expressed or implied by these
forward-looking statements. These statements are not guarantees of
future performance and are subject to risks, uncertainties and
assumptions. All forward-looking statements included in this press
release are based on information available to us on the date
hereof. Except as may be otherwise required by law, we undertake no
obligation to update or revise the forward-looking statements
included in this press release, whether as a result of new
information, future events or otherwise, after the date hereof. You
should not place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements,
as actual results may differ materially from projections,
estimates, or other forward-looking statements due to a variety of
important factors, variables and events including, but not limited
to: the impact of COVID-19 on global markets, economic conditions,
the healthcare industry and our results of operations and the
response by governments and other third parties; the risk that
regulatory or other approvals required for the Magellan Acquisition
may be delayed or not obtained or are subject to unanticipated
conditions that could require the exertion of management's time and
our resources or otherwise have an adverse effect on us; the
possibility that certain conditions to the consummation of the
Magellan Acquisition will not be satisfied or completed on a timely
basis and accordingly, the Magellan Acquisition may not be
consummated on a timely basis or at all; uncertainty as to the
expected financial performance of the combined company following
completion of the Magellan Acquisition; the possibility that the
expected synergies and value creation from the Magellan Acquisition
or the WellCare Acquisition (or other acquired businesses) will not
be realized, or will not be realized within the respective expected
time periods; the risk that unexpected costs will be incurred in
connection with the completion and/or integration of the Magellan
Acquisition or that the integration of Magellan Health will be more
difficult or time consuming than expected; the risk that potential
litigation in connection with the Magellan Acquisition may affect
the timing or occurrence of the Magellan Acquisition or result in
significant costs of defense, indemnification and liability; a
downgrade of the credit rating of our indebtedness; the inability
to retain key personnel; disruption from the announcement,
pendency, completion and/or integration of the Magellan Acquisition
or from the integration of the WellCare Acquisition, or similar
risks from other acquisitions we may announce or complete from time
to time, including potential adverse reactions or changes to
business relationships with customers, employees, suppliers or
regulators, making it more difficult to maintain business and
operational relationships; our ability to accurately predict and
effectively manage health benefits and other operating expenses and
reserves, including fluctuations in medical utilization rates due
to the impact of COVID-19; competition; membership and revenue
declines or unexpected trends; changes in healthcare practices, new
technologies and advances in medicine; increased healthcare costs;
changes in economic, political or market conditions; changes in
federal or state laws or regulations, including changes with
respect to income tax reform or government healthcare programs as
well as changes with respect to the Patient Protection and
Affordable Care Act and the Health Care and Education Affordability
Reconciliation Act (collectively referred to as the ACA) and any
regulations enacted thereunder that may result from changing
political conditions, the new administration or judicial actions;
rate cuts or other payment reductions or delays by governmental
payors and other risks and uncertainties affecting our government
businesses; our ability to adequately price products; tax matters;
disasters or major epidemics; changes in expected contract start
dates; provider, state, federal, foreign and other contract changes
and timing of regulatory approval of contracts; the expiration,
suspension, or termination of our contracts with federal or state
governments (including, but not limited to, Medicaid, Medicare,
TRICARE or other customers); the difficulty of predicting the
timing or outcome of legal or regulatory proceedings or matters,
including claims against our PBM business or whether additional
claims, reviews or investigations relating to our PBM business will
be brought by states, the federal government or shareholder
litigants, or government investigations; challenges to our contract
awards; cyber-attacks or other privacy or data security incidents;
the exertion of management's time and our resources, and other
expenses incurred and business changes required in connection with
complying with the undertakings in connection with any regulatory,
governmental or third party consents or approvals for acquisitions,
including the Magellan Acquisition; disruption caused by
significant completed and pending acquisitions making it more
difficult to maintain business and operational relationships; the
risk that unexpected costs will be incurred in connection with the
completion and/or integration of acquisition transactions; changes
in expected closing dates, estimated purchase price and accretion
for acquisitions; the risk that acquired businesses will not be
integrated successfully; restrictions and limitations in connection
with our indebtedness; our ability to maintain or achieve
improvement in the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS)
Star ratings and maintain or achieve improvement in other quality
scores in each case that can impact revenue and future growth;
availability of debt and equity financing, on terms that are
favorable to us; inflation; foreign currency fluctuations and risks
and uncertainties discussed in the reports that Centene has filed
with the Securities and Exchange Commission. This list of important
factors is not intended to be exhaustive. We discuss certain of
these matters more fully, as well as certain other factors that may
affect our business operations, financial condition and results of
operations, in our filings with the Securities and Exchange
Commission (SEC), including our annual report on Form 10-K,
quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and current reports on Form 8-K. Due
to these important factors and risks, we cannot give assurances
with respect to our future performance, including without
limitation our ability to maintain adequate premium levels or our
ability to control our future medical and selling, general and
administrative costs.
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SOURCE Centene Corporation