ST. LOUIS, April 17, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Centene Corporation (NYSE: CNC) announced today its OpiEnd™ Youth Challenge, a targeted curriculum for adolescents ages nine through 14 to raise awareness about opioid misuse and prevention. As part of the challenge, teachers and students discuss significant attributes of addiction and opioid misuse, and students then show their understanding by developing and submitting campaign messaging that depicts ways to prevent misuse. The contest submissions are open through September 20, 2019. Winners will be announced in late October.

The OpiEnd Youth Challenge is the latest initiative as part of Centene's OpiEnd program, which addresses the national epidemic against opioid usage. Aligned with Centene's commitment to saving lives and improving outcomes, Centene aims to fight the opioid epidemic through quality enhancements and improved access to addiction treatment.

"The widespread misuse of prescription and non-prescription opioids affects communities across urban, suburban, and rural areas," said Ken Yamaguchi, M.D., Executive Vice President, Chief Medical Officer for Centene. "As part of OpiEnd's innovative multidimensional approach, we aim to increase awareness and education of youth and adolescents and empower them to be a part of the solution to combat the opioid crisis facing the nation."

Eighty percent of the world's opioids are taken by Americans. More than 4 million people use prescription painkillers for non-medical use in an average month, and 44 percent of Americans know someone addicted to a prescription pain reliever. The business need, social impact, and proposed value of OpiEnd cannot be understated. Preventative or early intervention substantially reduces the burden of this disease.

OpiEnd was developed to improve the lives of Centene's members with opioid dependency and substance use disorder across the prevention to treatment continuum through data-driven integrated care management and member education, pharmacy policies, provider engagement, and community outreach interventions. OpiEnd's goal is to effectively manage pain and prevent opioid misuse. OpiEnd utilizes Centene's proprietary predictive analytics to identify at-risk members for potential opioid misuse and uses targeted clinical interventions based on leading evidence-based practices in addiction medicine to transform the health of the community and improve member health outcomes. This proactive approach employs early intervention to prevent opioid misuse and helps save lives.

"As a leading multi-national healthcare company, Centene believes in treating the whole person, not just the physical body," said Mary Mason, M.D., Senior Vice President, Chief Medical Officer of Corporate Health Initiatives for Centene. "We are excited about the potential from this program, engaging both providers, educators and students in a meaningful way, supporting our prevention efforts across the country."

Another component of the OpiEnd program is quarterly training for providers through the American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) with the goal of increasing education toward the treatments for opioid use disorder. Offered to all health plans, Centene and ASAM deliver free trainings to every provider across Centene's health plans. These trainings focuses on opioid use disorder treatment, fulfilling the waiver requirements for buprenorphine therapy, with targeted education and mentoring on prescription policies, as well as a targeted focus for women's health and pregnancy.

For more information on the OpiEnd Youth Challenge, please visit www.opiendyouthchallenge.com.  

About Centene Corporation
Centene Corporation, a Fortune 100 company, is a diversified, multi-national healthcare enterprise that provides a portfolio of services to government sponsored and commercial healthcare programs, focusing on under-insured and uninsured individuals. Many receive benefits provided under Medicaid, including the State Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), as well as Aged, Blind or Disabled (ABD), Foster Care and Long-Term Services and Supports (LTSS), in addition to other state-sponsored programs, Medicare (including the Medicare prescription drug benefit commonly known as "Part D"), dual eligible programs and programs with the U.S. Department of Defense. Centene also provides healthcare services to groups and individuals delivered through commercial health plans. Centene operates local health plans and offers a range of health insurance solutions. It also contracts with other healthcare and commercial organizations to provide specialty services including behavioral health management, care management software, correctional healthcare services, dental benefits management, commercial programs, home-based primary care services, life and health management, vision benefits management, pharmacy benefits management, specialty pharmacy and telehealth services.

Centene uses its investor relations website to publish important information about the Company, including information that may be deemed material to investors. Financial and other information about Centene is routinely posted and is accessible on Centene's investor relations website, http://www.centene.com/investors.

Cautionary Statement on Forward-Looking Statements
All statements, other than statements of current or historical fact, contained in this communication are forward-looking statements. Without limiting the foregoing, forward-looking statements often use words such as "believe," "anticipate," "plan," "expect," "estimate," "intend," "seek," "target," "goal," "may," "will," "would," "could," "should," "can," "continue" and other similar words or expressions (and the negative thereof). We intend such forward-looking statements to be covered by the safe-harbor provisions for forward-looking statements contained in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, and Centene Corporation is including this statement for purposes of complying with these safe-harbor provisions. In particular, these statements include, without limitation, statements about Centene's future operating or financial performance, market opportunity, growth strategy, competition, expected activities in completed and future acquisitions, including statements about the impact of Centene's proposed acquisition of WellCare Health Plans, Inc. (the "WellCare Transaction"), Centene's recent acquisition (the "Fidelis Care Transaction") of substantially all the assets of New York State Catholic Health Plan, Inc., d/b/a Fidelis Care New York ("Fidelis Care"), investments and the adequacy of Centene's available cash resources.

These forward-looking statements reflect Centene's current views with respect to future events and are based on numerous assumptions and assessments made by us in light of Centene's experience and perception of historical trends, current conditions, business strategies, operating environments, future developments and other factors Centene believes appropriate. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties and are subject to change because they relate to events and depend on circumstances that will occur in the future, including economic, regulatory, competitive and other factors that may cause Centene's or its industry's actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions.

All forward-looking statements included in this filing are based on information available to us on the date of this communication. Except as may be otherwise required by law, Centene undertakes no obligation to update or revise the forward-looking statements included in this communication, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, after the date of this filing. You should not place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements, as actual results may differ materially from projections, estimates, or other forward-looking statements due to a variety of important factors, variables and events including, but not limited to, the following: (i) the risk that regulatory or other approvals required for the WellCare Transaction may be delayed or not obtained or are obtained subject to conditions that are not anticipated that could require the exertion of management's time and Centene's resources or otherwise have an adverse effect on Centene; (ii) the risk that Centene's stockholders do not approve the issuance of shares of Centene common stock in the WellCare Transaction; (iii) the risk that WellCare's stockholders do not adopt the merger agreement; (iv) the possibility that certain conditions to the consummation of the WellCare Transaction will not be satisfied or completed on a timely basis and accordingly the WellCare Transaction may not be consummated on a timely basis or at all; (v) uncertainty as to the expected financial performance of the combined company following completion of the WellCare Transaction; (vi) the possibility that the expected synergies and value creation from the WellCare Transaction will not be realized, or will not be realized within the expected time period; (vii) the exertion of management's time and Centene's resources, and other expenses incurred and business changes required, in connection with complying with the undertakings in connection with any regulatory, governmental or third party consents or approvals for the WellCare Transaction; (viii) the risk that unexpected costs will be incurred in connection with the completion and/or integration of the WellCare Transaction or that the integration of WellCare will be more difficult or time consuming than expected; (ix) the risk that potential litigation in connection with the WellCare Transaction may affect the timing or occurrence of the WellCare Transaction or result in significant costs of defense, indemnification and liability; (x) a downgrade of the credit rating of Centene's indebtedness, which could give rise to an obligation to redeem existing indebtedness; (xi) unexpected costs, charges or expenses resulting from the WellCare Transaction; (xii) the possibility that competing offers will be made to acquire WellCare; (xiii) the inability to retain key personnel; (xiv) disruption from the announcement, pendency and/or completion of the WellCare Transaction, including potential adverse reactions or changes to business relationships with customers, employees, suppliers or regulators, making it more difficult to maintain business and operational relationships; and (xv) the risk that, following the WellCare Transaction, the combined company may not be able to effectively manage its expanded operations.

Additional factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from projections, estimates, or other forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, the following: (i) Centene's ability to accurately predict and effectively manage health benefits and other operating expenses and reserves; (ii) competition; (iii) membership and revenue declines or unexpected trends; (iv) changes in healthcare practices, new technologies, and advances in medicine; (v) increased healthcare costs, (vi) changes in economic, political or market conditions; (vii) changes in federal or state laws or regulations, including changes with respect to income tax reform or government healthcare programs as well as changes with respect to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the Health Care and Education Affordability Reconciliation Act, collectively referred to as the Affordable Care Act ("ACA"), and any regulations enacted thereunder that may result from changing political conditions or judicial actions, including the ultimate outcome of the District Court decision in "Texas v. United States of America" regarding the constitutionality of the ACA; (viii) rate cuts or other payment reductions or delays by governmental payors and other risks and uncertainties affecting Centene's government businesses; (ix) Centene's ability to adequately price products on federally facilitated and state-based Health Insurance Marketplaces; (x) tax matters; (xi) disasters or major epidemics; (xii) the outcome of legal and regulatory proceedings; (xiii) changes in expected contract start dates; (xiv) provider, state, federal and other contract changes and timing of regulatory approval of contracts; (xv) the expiration, suspension, or termination of Centene's contracts with federal or state governments (including but not limited to Medicaid, Medicare, TRICARE or other customers); (xvi) the difficulty of predicting the timing or outcome of pending or future litigation or government investigations; (xvii) challenges to Centene's contract awards; (xviii) cyber-attacks or other privacy or data security incidents; (xix) the possibility that the expected synergies and value creation from acquired businesses, including, without limitation, the Fidelis Care Transaction, will not be realized, or will not be realized within the expected time period; (xx) the exertion of management's time and Centene's resources, and other expenses incurred and business changes required in connection with complying with the undertakings in connection with any regulatory, governmental or third party consents or approvals for acquisitions, including the Fidelis Care Transaction; (xxi) disruption caused by significant completed and pending acquisitions, including, among others, the Fidelis Care Transaction, making it more difficult to maintain business and operational relationships; (xxii) the risk that unexpected costs will be incurred in connection with the completion and/or integration of acquisition transactions, including, among others, the Fidelis Care Transaction; (xxiii) changes in expected closing dates, estimated purchase price and accretion for acquisitions; (xxiv) the risk that acquired businesses, including Fidelis Care, will not be integrated successfully; (xxv) the risk that, following the Fidelis Care Transaction, Centene may not be able to effectively manage its expanded operations; (xxvi) restrictions and limitations in connection with Centene's indebtedness; (xxvii) Centene's ability to maintain the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Star ratings and maintain or achieve improvement in other quality scores in each case that can impact revenue and future growth; (xxviii) availability of debt and equity financing, on terms that are favorable to us; (xxxix) inflation; and (xxx) foreign currency fluctuations.

This list of important factors is not intended to be exhaustive. We discuss certain of these matters more fully, as well as certain other factors that may affect Centene's business operations, financial condition and results of operations, in Centene's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"), including Centene's Annual Report on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and current reports on Form 8-K.  Due to these important factors and risks, Centene cannot give assurances with respect to Centene's future performance, including without limitation Centene's ability to maintain adequate premium levels or Centene's ability to control its future medical and selling, general and administrative costs.

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SOURCE Centene Corporation