Kansas to review acquisition of Medicaid contractor

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.