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.
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.
Meanwhile, a state health department spokeswoman says the Medicaid contract with the Amerigroup subsidiary remains in place.
