Health Net will pay $340,000 for alleged use of severance agreements to curb whistleblowers
Health Net allegedly required employees to waive their ability to collect whistleblower awards in their departing severance agreements, SEC says.
Centene Headquarters- ST. Louis, MO
Centene's wholly-owned subsidiary Health Net has agreed to pay $340,000 for violating securities laws on whistleblower awards, the Securities and Exchange Commission announced Tuesday.
Health Net allegedly required employees to waive their ability to collect whistleblower awards in their departing severance agreements, according to the SEC.
Health Net took away the ability to file applications for whistleblower awards from employees who wanted to receive severance payments and other post-employment benefits, according to the SEC.
Health Net consented to the SEC's cease-and-desist order without admitting or denying the findings.
It also agreed to make reasonable efforts to inform former employees who signed the severance agreements from Aug. 12, 2011 to Oct. 22, 2015.
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The number of potentially involved employees was not released.
Health Net, California's fourth-largest health insurer, was acquired in March for $6 billion by Centene Corp., a St. Louis-based insurer.
Centene is not a party to the SEC complaint.
In June, the California Department of Insurance looked into whether Health Net improperly withheld payments to addiction treatment centers following a May 20 complaint about Health Net's actions signed by executives and owners of 118 for-profit treatment centers.
The treatment providers say they can't afford to accept Health Net patients without reimbursement. Drug and alcohol treatment centers in Arizona have filed similar complaints about Health Net with insurance officials there.
Twitter: @SusanJMorse
