Centene Charitable Foundation Pledges To Match Up To $1 Million In Contributions To Hispanic Family Equity Fund

$100 million fund will advance access to early education, childcare, food security, health insurance, economic support, and job training in Hispanic communities across the United States.

News provided by

Centene Foundation

May 27, 2021, 08:20 ET

ST. LOUIS, May 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Centene Corporation (NYSE: CNC) through its foundation, the Centene Charitable Foundation, has pledged to match the first $1 million in corporate donations to the Hispanic Family Equity Fund. The fund, which was launched by the Healthy Americas Foundation (HAF), the supporting organization of the National Alliance for Hispanic Health, aims to support Hispanic families in the post-pandemic recovery.

Michael Neidorff, Centene President and CEO, and Marcela Manjarrez Hawn, Centene Senior Vice President and Chief Communications Officer, issued a call to Fortune 1000 companies and other corporations and foundations to contribute to the initiative and help play an active role in reducing systemic inequities that have challenged the Hispanic community.

"The COVID-19 pandemic shined a light on the health and economic inequities faced by Hispanic and other communities nationwide," said Michael F. Neidorff, Chairman, President and CEO of Centene. "As we now emerge into a post-pandemic world, we have been given a clear opportunity to close the well-being gap faced by far too many Americans. We encourage businesses across the Fortune 1000 community and other corporations to join Centene in supporting our ongoing efforts to provide opportunities for Hispanic communities, our nation's largest minority group, while also looking for innovative ways to ensure equity within their own organizations."

"By investing directly in communities and bolstering resources at the local level, the Healthy Americas Foundation can best meet the needs of Hispanic families," said Jane L. Delgado, PhD, MS, President and CEO of the Healthy Americas Foundation. "We look forward to working with Centene to ensure more equitable outcomes in the Hispanic community and are grateful for their support of the Fund. With so much now at stake for Hispanics, inaction cannot and will not be an option."

"As business leaders, we have a responsibility to lead by example and to create greater equity and opportunity for the communities we serve," said Marcela Manjarrez Hawn, Centene Senior Vice President, Chief Communications Officer. "Centene and the Centene Charitable Foundation are committed to increasing diverse representation at all levels of our company as well as ensuring our Hispanic and other minority members receive high-quality, culturally sensitive care. We are proud to build on these efforts in partnership with the Healthy Americas Foundation."

The fund includes three components:

1) $20 million in immediate equity grants to leading community-based organizations to support community family services. The grants will be used to facilitate the hiring of community navigators who will help close the gap in utilization of early education, childcare, food security, health insurance, economic support, and job training.

2) $5 million to monitor national, state, and community policies for recovery from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and ensure those policies serve Hispanic families.

3) $75 million as a standing fund to support emerging opportunities and foster innovation in the delivery of services to close the well-being gap for Hispanic families.

The fund's launch comes at a time when less than 2 percent of philanthropic dollars are invested in Hispanic-serving organizations. Now, as Hispanic Americans face disproportionate negative health and economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, there is an urgent need to address longstanding inequities.

Centene remains committed to increasing diversity within its own workplace. Sixteen percent of Centene employees are Hispanic or Latino, and Hispanic employees represent 12 percent of Supervisor and above leadership roles throughout the company. Centene has Hispanic representation at the highest levels including on the Board of Directors, the C-suite, the Centene Health Equity and Wellness Council and the Centene Health Policy Advisory Council. In addition, our Health Equity and Wellness Council and Health Policy Advisory Council provide critical counsel on how Centene can best support underserved communities nationwide. Centene currently serves a population that is 27 percent Hispanic.

The Hispanic Family Equity Fund is one of several efforts that both Centene and the Centene Charitable Foundation are engaged in to support diverse communities. In June 2020, Centene Corporation and the National Minority Quality Forum (NMQF), an independent research organization dedicated to ensuring high-risk racial and ethnic populations receive optimal healthcare, announced a research partnership for the "Minority and Rural Coronavirus Insights Study (MRCIS)" to assess the impact of COVID-19 on racial minorities and underserved communities across the country. Through the partnership, Centene, NMQF, and a range of other public and private healthcare entities including Quest Diagnostics, came together to conduct COVID-19 PCR testing (to confirm current COVID-19 infection) and antibody testing (to confirm previous COVID-19 infection) at Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) in California, Florida, Illinois, Louisiana, and Ohio, and 38% of enrollees in the study identified as Hispanic or Latino. In addition, Centene has a long-standing strategic partnership with the National Hispanic Medical Association.

For more information about the Hispanic Family Equity Fund, visit https://www.healthyamericasfund.org/hispanicfamily.

About Centene Corporation

Centene Corporation, a Fortune 50 company, is a leading multi-national healthcare enterprise that is committed to helping people live healthier lives. The Company takes a local approach – with local brands and local teams – to provide fully integrated, high-quality, and cost-effective services to government-sponsored and commercial healthcare programs, focusing on under-insured and uninsured individuals. Centene offers affordable and high-quality products to nearly 1 in 15 individuals across the nation, including Medicaid and Medicare members (including Medicare Prescription Drug Plans) as well as individuals and families served by the Health Insurance Marketplace, the TRICARE program, and individuals in correctional facilities. The Company also serves several international markets, and contracts with other healthcare and commercial organizations to provide a variety of specialty services focused on treating the whole person. Centene focuses on long-term growth and the development of its people, systems and capabilities so that it can better serve its members, providers, local communities, and government partners.

Centene uses its investor relations website to publish important information about the Company, including information that may be deemed material to investors. Financial and other information about Centene is routinely posted and is accessible on Centene's investor relations website, http://www.centene.com/investors.

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SOURCE Centene Foundation