WellCare says Medicare fraud sanctions lifted

WellCare says marketing will resume in days; shares set annual high

• On 10:46 am EST, Wednesday November 4, 2009

NEW YORK (AP) -- WellCare Health Plans Inc. said Wednesday it will start marketing Medicare drug and Medicare Advantage programs in the next few days, as most of the government's fraud sanctions on the company are being lifted.

WellCare said it will enroll members for coverage starting Jan. 1. It will be subject to increased monitoring, and some of its contracts will not be renewed because the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services chose not to lift them until the end of 2009, when the contracts will be expiring.

The expiring deals are private fee-for-service plans, and a Medicare Advantage contract in Ohio.

Earlier this year, WellCare paid $80 million in restitution to settle federal charges it defrauded the Florida Medicaid program and Florida Healthy Kids Corporation. That allowed the company to avoid criminal prosecutions. The investigation of WellCare begin in October 2007 with a raid on its Tampa, Fla., headquarters.

The company also reported its third-quarter results and narrowed its annual forecasts. In morning trading, WellCare shares jumped $2.61, or 9.9 percent, to $28.93, and set an annual high of $31.50.