Regulators Have Cleared Magellan Health Deal

Centene and Magellan Well being said they have obtained “all required regulatory approvals” wanted to shut Centene’s $2.2 billion acquisition of the behavioral well being firm.

The businesses anticipate closing the transaction subsequent week on Jan. 4, roughly one 12 months after Centene introduced the acquisition in a transfer to combine the medical well being advantages it already sells with behavioral well being choices.

The deal could possibly be the final main acquisition by Centene chairman and chief government officer Michael Neidorff who’s retiring as the corporate’s high government. Neidorff, who has been Centene’s CEO since 1996, will tackle a brand new function as government chairman till the tip of 2022.

“Our mixed firm could have expanded attain in quite a lot of specialty companies and can present elevated entry to behavioral well being care throughout a time of want for the communities we serve,” Neidorff said Thursday of the addition of Magellan Well being.

Below Neidorff, Centene has already grown into a bigger firm with projected revenues of greater than $125 billion in 2021 as People join Medicaid, the medical insurance for low revenue sufferers it manages through contracts with states and particular person protection below the Inexpensive Care Act often known as Obamacare. And Centene has expanded into the enterprise of Medicare Benefit, the privatized well being advantages myriad well being insurers provide senior through contract with the federal authorities.

However including Magellan Well being will “broaden and deepen Centene’s entire well being capabilities and set up a number one behavioral well being platform,” the company said when the deal was announced in January of this year. “The mixed platform lays the inspiration by which the corporate will proceed to speculate and innovate for its members, enabling improved well being outcomes and quicker, diversified development.”