Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita announced on Tuesday a $66,496,758 settlement on behalf of the State of Indiana to resolve allegations against Centene Corp., a major healthcare-services company.
The allegations include claims that Centene, in the course of providing pharmacy services, overcharged Indiana’s Medicaid program for pharmaceutical costs. Centene made no admission of liability and maintains that its business practices were lawful.
Rokita
“Companies must be held accountable for their actions,” Rokita said. “On Hoosiers’ behalf, my team and I are committed to making sure that happens.”
Rokita thanked the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration for its significant contributions to investigating Centene’s practices. He also thanked his staff and the Liston & Deas law firm for their critical expertise.
While functioning as a pharmacy benefit manager (PBM), Centene allegedly failed to disclose true pharmacy benefits and services costs. Among other functions, PBMs contract with pharmacies and reimburse them for filling prescriptions on behalf of insurance plans – in this case, on behalf of the State of Indiana.
As a result of Centene’s failure to disclose true costs, Centene allegedly inflated dispensing fees causing an added cost to the Medicaid program.
Indiana is one of at least 18 states to investigate Centene’s alleged overcharges. The agreement requires Centene to pay the State of Indiana the total amount of the settlement in two installments over 12 months.