TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) _ Kansas will review plans by the nation's second-largest health insurance company to buy another company recently awarded a contract to help manage the state's Medicaid program.
WellPoint Inc., based in Indianapolis, announced Monday it will acquire Amerigroup Corp., headquartered in Virginia Beach, Va., for about $4.46 billion. WellPoint expects to close the transaction early next year.
Kansas awarded one of three contracts to manage its $2.9 billion-a-year Medicaid program to an Amerigroup subsidiary two weeks ago. Medicaid covers health care for the needy and disabled.
A WellPoint subsidiary was an unsuccessful bidder for a Kansas contract.
Kansas is among 15 states that must review the transaction. Bob Hanson, a spokesman for Insurance Commissioner Sandy Praeger, said that process should take about two months.
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