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By 
June 23, 2021 at 12:05 PM
What You Need to Know
- The Centene chairman criticized the Missouri legislature for not expanding Medicaid as voters wanted.
- The new Charlotte, North Carolina offices could have room for a total of 6,000 employees.
- Features will include solar electric car charging stations and a health care clinic.
Outsiders are wondering whether there might be more than an appreciation for North Carolina’s mild weather behind Centene Corp.’s move to build large new offices in Charlotte, North Carolina, rather than around its current headquarters location, in Clayton, Missouri.
Centene was founded in Milwaukee, in 1984, and has had its headquarters in Clayton, a St. Louis suburb, since 1997.
The health insurer dedicated a new East Coast headquarters complex located in Charlotte earlier this week.
Centene also has a West Coast campus in Sacramento, California.
Sources of Friction
Centene is best known as a manager of Medicaid plans and other public health programs, such as the Children’s Health Insurance Program plans.
It also is a large player in the Affordable Care Act public exchange plan market.
In recent years, the company has struggled to expand quickly enough in the area around Clayton to accommodate its rapid enrollment growth.
In July 2020, Centene said it would build more offices in North Carolina, rather than around Clayton, because of the high crime rate in St. Louis.
A few weeks later, Missouri voters approved a Medicaid expansion ballot measure. The ballot measure calls for Medicaid expansion to take effect in Missouri by July 1, 2021.
