A $17 Billion Health-Care Deal Is a Bet on Obamacare
The merger of Centene and Wellcare, two big players in government-sponsored insurance, makes most sense if the status quo prevails.
ACA all the way.
Photographer: Joe Raedle/Getty Images North AmericaHealth insurance has been in flux for more than 15 years. Changes to Medicare created a much bigger role for private firms in covering seniors starting in 2006. The Affordable Care Act expanded Medicaid to more low-income Americans and widened the individual market in 2012. Now Amazon.com Inc. is sniffing around the sector, megamergers have transformed some of the biggest insurers into even larger health-care players, and the industry as a whole faces huge policy threats from both sides of the aisle.
On Wednesday, two days after President Trump’s Justice Department fully backed a legal effort that would strike down the ACA, Centene Inc. pushed back with the announcement of a deal, valued at $17.3 billion, that will see it pay $305.39 a share for Medicare and Medicaid-focused rival WellCare Health Plans Inc.