TAMPA — WellCare Health Plans Inc. said it will pay $35.2-million as part of an agreement with U.S. prosecutors in a Medicaid fraud investigation, the company said in a regulatory filing Monday.
The payment doesn't settle the case or limit the U.S. government and state of Florida from making further claims in their continuing investigation, WellCare said.
WellCare, whose top executives quit in January, said the agreement includes an estimated $24.5-million owed the government for Medicaid "behavioral health" claims from 2002 to 2006 by two of its Florida HMO subsidiaries: WellCare of Florida Inc. and HealthEase of Florida Inc. The additional $10.7-million will be held in escrow during the government probe.
"We do not know whether other areas of the investigations might lead to fines, penalties, operating restrictions or disqualifications or other material adverse impaction on the company or the company's previously issued financial statements,'' WellCare said in the filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
WellCare manages benefits for more than 1.23-million members of state Medicaid programs for the poor and an additional 200,000 elderly and disabled customers who are part of the government's Medicare program.
In October, agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and other federal and state agencies raided the Tampa headquarters of WellCare.
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