Oregon — Centene, the St. Louis-based health insurance giant, contributed $50,000 to Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek’s (D) re-election campaign months after the state approved a major expansion of Centene subsidiary Trillium’s Medicaid footprint in the state, and four years after then-Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum said the company “took advantage of Oregon” when it overcharged the state for pharmaceutical costs, leading to a $17 million settlement.
The contribution is the eighth largest received by Kotek’s campaign this year as she prepares for a rematch of her 2022 contest with Republican Christine Drazan. Kotek’s biggest 2026 contributors are mostly union-affiliated, with the largest contribution so far this year, $150,000, coming from a carpenter union political organization. Drazan’s largest contribution, $500,000, came from car dealership magnate Don H. Jones of Ashland.
Centene is the fourth largest health insurer by revenue, $130 billion, in the United States, according to personal finance website Value Penguin. In 2016, the company acquired Trillium Community Health Plan, which operates as a Coordinated Care Organization in Lane, Douglas and Linn counties. Oregon contracts with CCOs to provide Medicaid benefits to low-income Oregonians.
In 2022, Oregon received $17 million from Centene in settlement of the state’s claim against the company for allegedly overcharging the Oregon Health Plan, the state’s name for its Medicaid program, for pharmaceutical costs, according to a press release from the Division of Financial Regulation. Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum (D) said, “This pharmacy partnership with Centene was meant to help some our [sic] most vulnerable, but this company took advantage of Oregon.”
The Oregon Health Authority February 1 of this year granted the company that “took advantage of Oregon” a bigger Medicaid footprint in Lane County, shifting 96,000 Oregonians into the care of Trillium, the Centene subsidiary, according to Lookout Eugene-Springfield. The move dramatically expanded Trillium’s CCO business, which previously covered just 30,000 Lane County residents, causing the company to double its Lane County workforce. OHA’s decision followed insurer PacificSource’s September 2025 announcement that it would quit covering Medicaid recipients in the county.
The award of 96,000 new insured individuals could be lucrative for Centene. OHA announced it was increasing the sum it pays CCOs to insure Medicaid beneficiaries by 10.2% for 2026, citing rapidly increasing behavioral health utilization. For 2025, the state paid CCOs statewide an average of $529.89 per insured individual per month, out of which CCOs pay claims and keep the rest for profit. For 2026, the statewide average should be approximately $583.94 per insured individual per month, meaning OHA’s award to Trillium represents about $56 million in new business for the company.
Kotek appointed Dr. Sejal Hathi, who serves at the Governor’s pleasure, to run the Oregon Health Authority in 2023.
Oregon Roundup Foundation made repeated requests to spokespeople for the Governor’s Office and Centene for comment on this story prior to Memorial Day weekend. It did not receive a response.
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Oregon Roundup Foundation created this article. ORF is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation dedicated to covering Oregon political and government news.
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