Being bought by an out-of-state Fortune 500 company could give a Eugene area Medicaid provider a jump on expanding its health network, according to the CEO.
St. Louis, Missouri-based Centene Corporation is trying to buy Trillium Community Health.
Trillium is one of 16 coordinated care organizations, which are charged with providing health care for low-income Oregonians.
Speaking on OPB's "Think Out Loud" program, Trillium CEO Terry Copeland said Centene could help the company lower costs and build more clinics for the hundreds of thousands of extra people who signed up for Medicaid last year.
"The problem is that it would take us up to five years to build the infrastructure that we could get within one year with an affiliation with Centene," said Copeland.
Some people are worried Centene could be more likely to place profits above care than the local owners.
Before the sale can go through, it must be approved by the Oregon Insurance Division.
