WellCare to pay $10 million to settle SEC probe

NEW YORK (Reuters) - WellCare Health Plans Inc (WCG.N) said on Monday it will pay a civil penalty of $10 million to resolve a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission probe into the company's financial filings.

According to the SEC, WellCare materially overstated its publicly reported net income, stemming from a scheme to withhold money from Florida healthcare programs.

WellCare earlier this month agreed to pay $80 million to settle healthcare fraud allegations in a case that had left a cloud over the company since agents raided its Florida offices in 2007.

WellCare did not admit or deny the SEC allegations.

Last July, its board concluded that WellCare should restate some financial statements because of accounting errors tied to compliance with refund requirements in certain contracts.

WellCare became current on its financial statements in March.

The Tampa, Florida-based company previously recorded an accrual related to settlement discussions with the SEC and other federal agencies, and therefore will not record any incremental expense, the company said.

WellCare shares were up 49 cents, or 3 percent, at $17.02 in afternoon trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

(Reporting by Lewis Krauskopf, editing by Gerald E. McCormick)