Centene Corp. provides health care services to prison facilities across the United States, and the lucrative contracts awarded by state authorities serve to boost the giant insurer’s bottom line. However, a policy change espoused by President Joe Biden could potentially disrupt Centene’s good business.
President Biden ran on a platform that promised a wide-ranging criminal justice reform. He made clear during his campaign that corporations will be disallowed from doing business with the U.S. prison system. If and when the plan is implemented, states would be prohibited from outsourcing primary prison services to players like Centene.
The intention was to “stop corporations from profiteering off of incarceration,” according to the then Biden Campaign.
Biden Plan To Hurt Michael Neidorff
If the plan pushes through, Centene will be among the corporations to bear the brunt of the policy change. According to The Intercept, the company, through its subsidiary Centurion has existing health care contracts with 16 U.S. states. Authorities put their trust in Centene, believing that the services to be rendered are top quality but with relatively lower cost. But the record showed the company, estimated to be worth $60 billion, failed to live up to expectations.
Added the report: “Centene, along with its subsidiaries, has faced numerous lawsuits alleging wrongful deaths in prisons, leaving a pregnant inmate to give birth in a cell, and not providing adequate mental health care to suicidal patients.”
To be sure, showing Centene the exit door would be a laudable move on the part of the government, but there is an anticipated complication. The same report noted that Centene CEO Michael Neidorff is a major contributor, and his donations found their way to campaigns ran by both Democratic and Republican politicians.
Most notably, Neidorff is thought to be part of the Biden circle of trusted fundraisers. Documents provided by the Biden campaign identified the Centene chief executive as among the supporters that gave at least $25,000 to the cause. To be fair, Neidorff knew how to play politics as his donation history showed that he also pitched in to make U.S. senators from both parties happy.
Will Neidorff’s Political Ties Protect Centene?
Neidorff also made sure that politicians where Centene operates experience his generosity. In essence, the insurer is in the good graces of both national and local authorities. And this is something that Neidorff could count on when the going gets tough, such as the potential impact of President Biden’s criminal justice reform.
When Biden finally decides to set his plan in motion, it should be interesting to see if his reforms would apply even on individuals, a powerful business executive like Neidorff, who supported his campaign.
