Amerigroup

Amerigroup began as AMERICAID Community Care in 1994 and was initially aimed at the health care problems of children, mothers and pregnant women enrolled in Medicaid. Amerigroup became a publicly traded corporation in November 2001.

In 2006, Amerigroup entered the Medicare Advantage program, serving low-income people who are eligible for both Medicare and Medicaid through special needs plans.

In 2007, Amerigroup began the operation of traditional Medicare Advantage plans. Currently, Amerigroup offers health care services through three government programs that target different segments of the country's low-income population: Medicaid, the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) and Medicare.

On July 9, 2012, Anthem Inc. (then known as WellPoint) entered into an agreement to acquire Amerigroup Corporation for $4.9 billion. Anthem has since re-branded to Elevance Health, Inc.

On March 1, 2020, Amerigroup told Grays Harbor Community Hospital (GHCH) and Harbor Medical Group (HMG) of their decision to terminate their relationship with the company effective June 28, 2020.

As of December 31, 2012:

Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP)

A managed health care product for uninsured children not eligible for Medicaid. This product is designed for the SCHIP initiative.

Seniors and People with Disabilities (S/PD)

Medicaid fraud

Former Executive Cleveland Tyson provided federal prosecutors with evidence that Amerigroup was systematically declining services to low-income pregnant women in Illinois from 2001 to 2003. Their contract with the state required that they enroll all eligible clients, but prosecutors submitted emails showing that Amerigroup had a policy of targeting healthy enrollees and specifically excluded pregnant women and others with expensive conditions.

In October 2006, a federal jury found Amerigroup liable for $48 million in damages, which was tripled by statute to $144 million. In March 2007, an additional fine of over $190 million was levied for 18,000 false claims. After appealing the judgments, Amerigroup agreed in July 2008 to settle the charges for $225 million. As a whistleblower, qui tam provisions entitled Tyson to $56 million of the settlement.