Centene Corporation Announces Texas Foster Care Contract Award

Centene Corporation today announced that its Texas subsidiary, Superior HealthPlan Network (Superior Network), finalized the contractual terms of the Comprehensive Health Care for Children in Foster Care program award with the Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC). This statewide program will provide managed care services to participants in the Texas foster care program.
 
Michael F. Neidorff, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Centene Corporation, stated, "The selection of Superior Network to serve foster care recipients in Texas is significant, and we view this as an opportunity to positively impact the special health needs of these children. By providing and coordinating healthcare services for HHSC, we can offer a greater degree of accountability for the health outcomes of foster care children as they move from one placement to another."

Christopher D. Bowers, Chief Executive Officer and President, Superior HealthPlan, and Acting Head of Health Plan Business Unit, stated, "We believe the system that we have designed to care for these children will allow the State to advance its health care delivery to a new dimension in foster care. For example, we will implement a state-of-the-art health passport system to allow children’s health records to follow them. We believe this will promote continuity of care and eliminate the need for duplication of services."

As of December 31, 2006 Superior Network served 79,700 recipients under the Texas Children’s Health Insurance Plan and will begin managing care under this new contract effective October 1, 2007. Superior HealthPlan, Inc., Superior Network’s sister plan in Texas, currently serves 218,800 recipients under the Texas Medicaid and CHIP Program.

Superior expects to incur start-up costs that will reduce 2007 second and third quarter earnings by $0.02 and $0.07 respectively, while the program will be $0.03 to $0.04 accretive in the 2007 fourth quarter.