Amerigroup

Amerigroup

Type	Public
Traded as	NYSE: AGP
Industry	Health Insurance, Managed Healthcare
Founded	Dec. 9, 1994 as Americaid Name changed to Amerigroup in 1996
Headquarters	4425 Corporation Lane Virginia Beach, VA, U.S.
Key people	James G. Carlson, Chairman and CEO Richard C. Zoretic, COO James W. Truess, CFO Mary T. McCluskey, M.D., CMO
Products	Publicly funded health care program management
Revenue	$6.1 billion USD (2011)
Operating income	$278.7 million USD (2011)
Employees	5,167 (12/31/2011)
Website	www.amerigroup.com/

Amerigroup (NYSE: AGP)is an American managed care company, with two main goals: to meet the needs of Amerigroup members while keeping costs low."^[1] Amerigroup has more than 2 million members, and currently operates in Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Maryland, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York State, Ohio, Tenessee, Texas and Virginia.^[2]. It is a Fortune 500 company.

History

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 the fall of 2001. Today, Amerigroup serves more than 2 million members including Supplemental Security Income recipients, seniors and people with disabilities, many with complex physical and psychological illnesses. 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.^[3]

Health Care Products

As of Sept. 30, 2011:^[4]

• Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP)^[5]
• Seniors and People with Disabilities (S/PD)
• Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)^[6]
• FamilyCare^[7]
• Medicare Advantage^[8]

National Advisory Board

In 2007, Amerigroup developed the National Advisory Board (NAB) to focus on meeting the needs of seniors and people with disabilities, who are a significant proportion of their clients. This provides policy recommendations for improving programs and services for seniors and people with disabilities. Convened by Lex Frieden, who was instrumental in conceiving and drafting the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, the NAB is made up of 19 community advocates, health care experts and academics.^[9]

Corporate Responsibility

Amerigroup's compliance and ethics program includes a Code of Business Conduct and Ethics to which all employees must comply. Amerigroup provides a number of ways for employees to report potential violations of law, regulation or company policy. In reporting these potential violations, employees may remain anonymous. No employee can be penalised for making a report in good faith.^[10]

Amerigroup Foundation

The main goals of the Amerigroup Foundation are to foster access to care, encourage safe and healthy children and families, and promote community improvement and healthy neighborhoods.^[11] In the past year, the Foundation contributed more than $2 million to organizations whose goals are aligned to the company's.^[12] Since inception, the Foundation has donated more than $11 million in grants.

The Amerigroup Foundation’s Matching Gift program will match any employee's donation up to $5,000, to an eligible not-for-profit organization. The Amerigroup Foundation also has a "Dollars for Doers" program, which provides nonprofit organizations a cash donation to match the time employees donate--between 20 and 50 hours.^[13]

Volunteerism

Amerigroup has a Community Volunteers program, created to recognize and support the contributions employees make in communities across the country and to inspire others to volunteer.^[14] All Amerigroup employees receive a paid day off each year to do volunteer work in their communities.

Amerigroup is an official certifying organization for the President’s Volunteer Service Awards program, and holds events twice a year to connect employees with local volunteer opportunities.

Awards and Recognition

• 2011

Number 396 on Fortune 500, Fortune Magazine^[15]

Best Places to Work in New Jersey, Virginia, Texas, and New York health plans^[16]

Case in Point Award (ER Discharge and Education Outreach)^[17]

• 2010

Most Admired Companies, Fortune Magazine^[18]

Overall Leader in Corporate Social Responsibility, PR News^[19]

Best Insurance Website, The American Business Awards^[20]

• 2009

Governor’s Volunteerism and Community Service Award (Business Category), Commonwealth of Virginia^[21]

Gold Award (Start! Health and Walking programs), American Heart Association^[22]

• 2008

Top Insurer and Best Places to Work,Modern Healthcare Magazine^[23]

Medicaid Fraud

Fired 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 statue 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.^{[24] [25][26]}

References

External links

• Official website
• Amerigroup Corporation Official YouTube Channel
• Amerigroup Corporation Official Facebook Page
• National Advisory Board