Molina Healthcare of Ohio plans to add 226 jobs this year as the managed-care company takes on an added caseload of Medicare and Medicaid recipients,Columbus Business First has learned.
The division of Long Beach, Calif.-based Molina Healthcare Inc. (NYSE: MOH) bought a 160,000-square-foot building at 3000 Corporate Exchange Drive in northeast Columbus Dec. 20 to house its growing operation. It paid $8.5 million for the building, which Lake Forest, Ill.-based Westminster Funds had bought for $18.5 million in 2002.
Molina leases offices at 8101 N. High St. for about 425 employees and will gradually move them for a total head count of 650 in the new building by year’s end, the company said in an email to Business First. Most of the jobs are clinical case managers and representatives who work with members to help them understand benefits and find services.
Molina, which specializes in Medicaid programs, currently enrolls 300,000 Ohio recipients, representing about 20 percent of its premium revenue. Managed-care companies get a set monthly payment for each recipient from which they pay for all medical care and administration, profiting if they keep members healthy and out of the hospital.
In July, it will expand its geographic reach statewide as one of five winning bidders for a new model. Separately, Molina starts a contract in September working with disabled Ohioans who have multiple chronic conditions and receive both Medicare and Medicaid benefits.
Although most workers will be in Columbus, the company said it has employees who work remotely statewide and would look into satellite offices.
Through September, Molina had $903 million in premium revenue from Ohio Medicaid, up 31 percent from the same nine months a year ago, according to reports to the Ohio Department of Insurance. It had $1 billion revenue in all of 2011.