Centene reached a $27.6 million agreement with Kansas to settle allegations it overcharged the state for drugs, Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt said Dec. 6 in a news release.
Kansas began its investigation into Centene in 2019, after a similar effort in Ohio revealed pharmacy benefit managers were overbilling states. Kansas' investigation concluded that Centene artificially inflated dispensing fee amounts reported to state regulators and failed to report discounts it received from CVS-Caremark on certain retail pharmacy claims.
The settlement covers Centene's alleged practices between Jan. 1, 2016, and Nov. 12, 2021.
In the settlement, Centene agreed to improve transparency by providing Kansas with access to data necessary to determine the nature and appropriateness of pharmacy transactions.