Dive Brief:
Centene President Ken Fasola is retiring, according to a securities filing on Tuesday.
Fasola will leave Centene by next July, according to the filing. Over the remainder of 2024, the executive will transition from his current duties, and after that serve as a strategic advisor to CEO Sarah London until he retires.
Centene did not disclose who will replace Fasola as president, a role in which he oversaw the St. Louis-based insurer’s health plans, business lines and core operations.
Dive Insight:
Fasola joined Centene in early 2022 as executive vice president of healthcare enterprises before being named president later that year. Fasola came to Centene through the insurer’s $2.2 billion acquisition of managed care company Magellan Health, where Fasola was chief executive.
Over his 40-year career in healthcare, Fasola also held various leadership roles at HealthMarkets, a health insurance agency, along with major health insurers UnitedHealth and Humana, according to the executive’s LinkedIn.
As Centene president, Fasola was the second-highest paid executive at the insurer last year, earning $10.6 million in compensation. He trailed only London, who earned $18.6 million, according to proxy statements.
Centene brings in the majority of its revenue from offering Medicaid coverage, though the insurer also provides Medicare and Affordable Care Act plans. The payer has experienced significant turbulence over the past year as states rechecked Medicaid beneficiaries’ eligibility for the program, roiling Centene’s Medicaid rolls. More recently, Centene has reported a dogged mismatch in states’ payment rates and member acuity that’s pressured margins in the safety-net insurance scheme.
Centene has also been struggling amid lower margins and unfavorable regulatory changes in Medicare Advantage.
However, Centene has benefited from its presence in the ACA exchanges, which management said late last year was the fastest-growing segment of Centene’s business. The insurer has also looked to shave costs and refocus on its core business through measures like layoffs and divestitures, including of AI platform Apixio, U.K. unit Circle Health Group and management services subsidiary Collaborative Health Systems.
Centene brought in $2.7 billion in profit last year, more than double its profit in 2022. That’s despite revenues rising less than 7% year over year.
The insurer covered 28.6 million members as of the third quarter.
