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WellCare is settling another government probe related to its Medicaid troubles.

Remember when the feds raided WellCare’s headquarters back in 2007? The company, which manages health coverage for Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries, early this month agreed to pay $80 million to resolve federal and state criminal probes into allegations that it defrauded Florida’s Medicaid program by improperly inflating what it spent on care. The fraud investigation prompted the company to restate more than three years of its earnings in July.

Today, the company said it will pay a $10 million civil penalty, plus interest, to resolve an informal probe by the Securities and Exchange Commission around those earnings statements.

The SEC said WellCare “fraudulently retained over $40 million it was required to return to Florida state agencies under programs that provided mental health services to Medicaid recipients and health care services to uninsured children.” As a result, the company “materially overstated” its earnings, the SEC said. The company neither admitted nor denied the allegations.

“We are pleased that this matter has been resolved,” said Thomas O’Neil III, the company’s general counsel. “From the outset, WellCare cooperated fully with the SEC, and we are committed to enterprise-wide regulatory compliance and ethical business practices.”

Photo: Bloomberg News

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WellCare Pays Another $10 Million Over Medicaid Fraud Probes