Centene, WellCare union likely to raise antitrust concerns

Centene’s $17 billion pick-up of WellCare is likely to attract antitrust scrutiny from federal and state regulators as the combined company would have considerable concentration in a handful of states.

Centene and its rival WellCare both serve Medicaid beneficiaries in the same nine states and have significant overlap in certain markets, the most problematic territories being Missouri, Nebraska and Georgia, where the combined company would have significant market share, according to analysts at Jefferies.

The company would control 75% of the Medicaid market in Missouri, 67% in Nebraska and 61% in Georgia by Jefferies’ analysis. The concentration issue is slightly more acute in those states because there would be fewer providers left following...