WellCare and Community Care of North Carolina Join Forces to Advance Healthcare in North Carolina

RALEIGH, N.C. and TAMPA, Fla., Dec. 13, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- WellCare Health Plans, Inc. (NYSE: WCG), Community Care of North Carolina, Inc. (CCNC) and Community Care Physicians Network, LLC (CCPN) have agreed to collaborate on the delivery of high-quality healthcare to North Carolina's Medicaid beneficiaries in connection with North Carolina's new Medicaid program that is expected to be implemented in 2019.

CCNC subsidiary North Carolina Community Care Networks manages healthcare services for approximately 1.7 million North Carolina Medicaid enrollees through regional healthcare networks serving all 100 counties in the state. CCNC has established relationships with every hospital in the state, thousands of private practice physicians (including those in the CCPN network), every county health department, the state's 34 federally qualified health centers and 27 rural health centers. Regional CCNC program networks also employ roughly 600 care managers who work closely with North Carolina Medicaid beneficiaries and providers to ensure complex medical needs are appropriately managed.

WellCare is a leading provider of managed care services for government-sponsored healthcare programs including serving more than 2.7 million Medicaid beneficiaries across 11 states. WellCare and CCNC intend to coordinate care through joint development and management of population health programs, predictive analytics solutions and care management models for North Carolina Medicaid enrollees with a particular focus on those with complex health problems. WellCare and CCNC intend to leverage CCPN's robust network of primary care physicians to deliver clinical services to WellCare's members. Additionally, CCPN intends to provide infrastructure, provider relationships and support processes, while WellCare brings managed care operational best practices, innovative payment models and comprehensive clinical supports.

"We're excited by WellCare's vision and commitment to health system transformation and look forward to partnering with them to continue our mission to improve care for North Carolinians," said L. Allen Dobson, Jr., M.D., CCNC president and CEO. "CCNC is ready to partner with health plans such as WellCare that are committed to improving healthcare quality and access to care and building on our strong provider infrastructure in North Carolina."

"For years, CCNC has provided high-quality healthcare to North Carolinians. Together, we will build on this strong foundation to improve health outcomes while controlling costs," said Gregg MacDonald, senior vice president, division president at WellCare. "Our combined expertise offers Medicaid managed care services and clinical excellence, and importantly, an unwavering dedication to delivering the best possible healthcare to the state's most vulnerable populations."

Unique to this arrangement, WellCare brings its community advocacy program, which identifies local, community-based solutions to address unmet social support needs.  WellCare, in conjunction with CCNC, intends to establish a community advocacy program tailored to North Carolina Medicaid beneficiaries to connect them to essential and needed social support services.

"We know that people cannot prioritize their health when their basic social needs are not being met," said Pamme Taylor, WellCare's vice president for advocacy and community-based programs. "By helping people address these needs, we hope to help people lead better, healthier lives, provide greater support for North Carolina's social safety net, and reduce the overall cost of healthcare."

About WellCare Health Plans, Inc.
Headquartered in Tampa, Fla., WellCare Health Plans, Inc. (NYSE: WCG) focuses exclusively on providing government-sponsored managed care services, primarily through Medicaid, Medicare Advantage and Medicare Prescription Drug Plans, to families, children, seniors and individuals with complex medical needs. WellCare serves approximately 4.3 million members nationwide as of Sept. 30, 2017. For more information about WellCare, please visit the company's website at www.wellcare.com or view the company's videos at https://www.youtube.com/user/WellCareHealthPlan.

About Community Care of North Carolina
CCNC is a national leader in transforming health care. The CCNC Program joins community-based care managers with local primary care physicians and diverse teams of health professionals to develop whole-person plans of care. Informed by statewide data and predictive analytics, The CCNC Program builds patient centered practice models, connects people to the right local resources and leads collaborations with health systems and public health. This proven population health management approach delivers better health outcomes at lower costs. For more information, visit https://www.communitycarenc.org/.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This news release contains "forward-looking" statements that are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Statements that are predictive in nature, that depend upon or refer to future events or conditions, or that include words such as "expects," "anticipates," "intends," "plans," "believes," "estimates," "will,"  and similar expressions are forward-looking statements. For example, statements regarding the WellCare's and CCNC's collaboration, participation and selection in North Carolina's new Medicaid program, including the anticipated start date of  the program contain forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause WellCare's actual future results to differ materially from those projected or contemplated in the forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the ability of the parties to execute a definitive agreement or agreements regarding the services to be provided in support of the new North Carolina Medicaid program, and such agreements' ultimate terms, the selection of WellCare to participate in the new North Carolina Medicaid program, and the outcome of any related protests or disputes, the approval by the Centers of Medicaid and Medicare Services of the terms of a contract for the new North Carolina Medicaid program, any changes to the program or contract, including its anticipated implementation date, WellCare's progress on top priorities such as integrating care management, advocating for our members, building advanced relationships with providers and government partners, ensuring a competitive cost position, and delivering prudent, profitable growth, WellCare's ability to effectively estimate and manage growth, WellCare's ability to effectively execute and integrate acquisitions, potential reductions in Medicaid and Medicare revenue, WellCare's ability to estimate and manage medical benefits expense effectively, including through its vendors, WellCare's ability to improve healthcare quality and access, WellCare's ability to negotiate actuarially sound rates, especially in new programs with limited experience, the appropriation and payment by state governments of Medicaid premiums receivable, the parties ability to address operational challenges related to new business, and the parties ability to meet the requirements of readiness reviews. Given the risks and uncertainties inherent in forward-looking statements, any of WellCare's forward-looking statements could be incorrect and investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any of our forward-looking statements.

Additional information concerning these and other important risks and uncertainties can be found in the WellCare's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, included under the captions "Forward-Looking Statements" and "Risk Factors" in the company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2016, and in the company's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2017, which contain discussions of WellCare's business and the various factors that may affect it. Subsequent events and developments may cause actual results to differ, perhaps materially, from WellCare's forward-looking statements. WellCare's forward-looking statements speak only as of the date on which the statements are made. WellCare undertakes no duty, and expressly disclaims any obligation to update these forward-looking statements to reflect any future events, developments or otherwise.

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SOURCE WellCare Health Plans, Inc.