Current Wellcare President & CEO, Richard Fisher, will join the Operations leadership team under Centene Chief Operating Officer Susan Smith, bringing additional Medicare expertise into Centene’s core services operations
Centene Corporation (NYSE: CNC), a leading healthcare enterprise committed to helping people live healthier lives, today announced two appointments. Michael A. Carson joins Centene as President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of its Medicare business, Wellcare. Mr. Carson will be responsible for Medicare business performance, strategy and growth and will report to Centene President Ken Fasola. Carson succeeds Richard Fisher, who has been appointed to the Operations leadership team under Centene Chief Operating Officer Susan Smith. Mr. Fisher will have responsibility for key financial and operational processes across Shared Services, as well as lead enterprise development, management and optimization of Centene’s key vendor partnerships.
Mr. Carson brings nearly three decades of seasoned leadership, operational and industry expertise in both the payer and provider space with a deep focus on and expertise in serving Medicare and dual-eligible populations. As the CEO of value-based primary and multi-specialty care start-up CareAbout, he led a fully delegated, risk-bearing Medicare and dual-eligible-focused care delivery organization. Mr. Carson also served as the CEO of Bright Health Plan and as the President and CEO of Harvard Pilgrim Health Care. He led the formation and rebuilding of Medicare businesses at both Amerigroup and Anthem, as well as served in transformative leadership roles at ConcertoHealth and other Blue Cross Blue Shield plans. Mr. Carson started his career in the United States Air Force, where he served for almost a decade before transitioning to corporate roles.
“We are excited for Michael to join the team and look forward to leveraging his extensive knowledge and expertise for the benefit of our Medicare business. He will be a strong addition to the Wellcare team and its efforts to advance the health of the members we serve,” said Centene CEO, Sarah M. London. “I am also excited that we will benefit from Rich’s deep Medicare expertise as we continue to fortify our core service operations and build a partner ecosystem to best serve our members across our lines of business.”
“Centene’s longstanding commitment to be the leading provider of member-focused quality care and services is unmatched and I’m excited to support the company’s mission to transform the health of the communities it serves,” said Carson. “I look forward to helping guide the Medicare business to realize its full potential, driving further innovation and growth as we collaborate with our Medicaid and Marketplace businesses and key provider and member services partners.”
Mr. Carson earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of Phoenix. He serves as Non-Executive Board Chair of HYKE, and as an Advisory Board Member of both Foodsmart and OneHealth.
About Centene Corporation
Centene Corporation, a Fortune 500 company, is a leading healthcare enterprise that is committed to helping people live healthier lives. The Company takes a local approach – with local brands and local teams – to provide fully integrated, high-quality and cost-effective services to government-sponsored and commercial healthcare programs, focusing on under-insured and uninsured individuals. Centene offers affordable and high-quality products to nearly 1 in 15 individuals across the nation, including Medicaid and Medicare members (including Medicare Prescription Drug Plans) as well as individuals and families served by the Health Insurance Marketplace and the TRICARE program. The Company also contracts with other healthcare and commercial organizations to provide a variety of specialty services focused on treating the whole person. Centene focuses on long-term growth and value creation as well as the development of its people, systems and capabilities so that it can better serve its members, providers, local communities and government partners.
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(Envolve)), as our pharmacy benefits manager (PBM) subsidiary, within the reserve estimate we previously recorded and on other acceptable terms, or at all, or whether additional claims, reviews or investigations will be brought by states, the federal government or shareholder litigants, or government investigations; challenges to our contract awards; cyber-attacks or other privacy or data security incidents; the exertion of management’s time and our resources, and other expenses incurred and business changes required in connection with complying with the terms of our contracts and the undertakings in connection with any regulatory, governmental, or third party consents or approvals for acquisitions or dispositions; any changes in expected closing dates, estimated purchase price, or accretion for acquisitions or dispositions; losses in our investment portfolio; restrictions and limitations in connection with our indebtedness; a downgrade of the credit rating of our indebtedness; the availability of debt and equity financing on terms that are favorable to us; foreign currency fluctuations; and risks and uncertainties discussed in the reports that Centene has filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). This list of important factors is not intended to be exhaustive. We discuss certain of these matters more fully, as well as certain other factors that may affect our business operations, financial condition, and results of operations, in our filings with the SEC, including our annual report on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and current reports on Form 8-K. Due to these important factors and risks, we cannot give assurances with respect to our future performance, including without limitation our ability to maintain adequate premium levels or our ability to control our future medical and selling, general and administrative costs.
