Healthcare insurance company Centene has announced that its acquisition of competitor WellCare Health Plans could be completed much earlier than expected next year.
Both companies were expecting to close the $15.27 billion deal during the first half of 2020.
“The approval process continues to go well and is ahead of schedule,” said Centene CEO Michael Neidorff in a recent conference call announcing the company’s third quarter earnings.
“Given the progress of activities to date, there may be an opportunity to close earlier in 2020.”
Reuters reported that Neidorff had also confirmed that Centene had secured conditional approvals in all states but two – Illinois and New Jersey.
Centene revealed that its third quarter net profits increased to $95 million (23 cents a share), from $19 million in the third quarter of 2018. Revenue also increased to almost $19 billion, from $16.2 billion last year.
The company is the largest provider of ACA individual coverage; Forbes reported that Centene has nearly 1.9 million health plan members in 20 states.
