VIRGINIA BEACH, Va., July 26 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- AMERIGROUP Corporation's Tennessee subsidiary has been chosen to offer healthcare coverage to about 170,000 low-income Tennessee citizens when the State of Tennessee launches a restructured State Medicaid program on April 1, 2007.
The State's Bureau of TennCare announced today that AMERIGROUP Community Care of Tennessee is one of two managed care organizations that will inaugurate a revamped version of the TennCare Medicaid program. Under the new TennCare structure, the State will be divided into three regions. The State today selected AMERIGROUP and a division of UnitedHealth Corporation to serve the Middle Region, which includes Nashville, scheduled to begin on April 1.
The State said that the managed care organizations will enroll about 340,000 members when operations begin in the Middle Region. These members will include children and families served by Medicaid's Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) program, people with disabilities served by Medicaid's Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program and children served by the State Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP).
The State plans to award contracts for TennCare's two remaining regions in 2007. Total enrollment in the statewide program is estimated to be approximately 1 million members.
"AMERIGROUP is honored that the State of Tennessee has selected us to serve its low-income citizens through the TennCare program," said Jeffrey L. McWaters, chairman and chief executive officer of AMERIGROUP Corporation. "For almost 12 years, AMERIGROUP has focused exclusively on the health needs of low-income Americans enrolled in public programs. We have developed innovative initiatives that help our members live healthier lives and at the same time lower healthcare costs for State governments. We are pleased that Tennessee has given us this vote of confidence, and we are determined to help improve health outcomes and expand access to healthcare for the citizens of Tennessee."
The State said that it expects to finalize contracts with the two successful TennCare bidders by early August. AMERIGROUP will provide information about the potential financial impact of this contract at a later date.
AMERIGROUP Corporation also announced its financial results for the second quarter of 2006 in a separate press release issued today. AMERIGROUP senior management will discuss Tennessee and the Company's second quarter results on a conference call, Thursday, July 27 at 9:30 a.m. Eastern Time.
AMERIGROUP Corporation, headquartered in Virginia Beach, Virginia, improves healthcare access and quality for low-income Americans by developing innovative managed health services for the public sector. Through its subsidiaries, AMERIGROUP serves approximately 1.2 million people in the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Texas and Virginia. For more information, visit http://www.amerigroupcorp.com/.
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