Oregon Announces $17M Settlement with Centene

Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum and Oregon Insurance Commissioner Andrew Stolfi jointly announced a $17 million settlement with Centene regarding pharmacy services and including allegations that the company overcharged Oregon’s Medicaid program for pharmaceutical costs.

Specifically, Centene served as both a pharmacy benefit manager, and provided managed care through a subsidiary to Oregon’s Medicaid program. In Oregon, that managed care organization was Trillium, which largely operated out of Lane County.

The investigation reportedly focused on whether Centene failed to provide certain pharmacy discounts in Oregon, resulting in inflated fees paid to Centene.

The settlement and investigation were jointly conducted by the Oregon Attorney General’s office, Department of Consumer Business Services and the Oregon Health Authority.