Michael F. Neidorff, 79, Dies; His Company Was an Obamacare Stalwart

When condition officers and federal government regulators were being concerned that some counties in the United States would be remaining with out a carrier eager to market coverage less than the Cost-effective Care Act, Mr. Neidorff agreed to present protection in some of all those marketplaces, mentioned Jesse Hunter, a previous main system officer for Centene, and “there was never ever any hesitation.”

“We want to aid out in which we are in a position to,” Mr. Neidorff informed The New York Instances in 2017.

He was born in 1942 in Altoona, Pa., to A. Harvey Neidorff, a physician, and Shirley Rubin Neidorff, a nurse. He had regarded as likely into medication but decided rather to key in political science at Trinity University in San Antonio. He afterwards gained a master’s diploma from St. Francis School in Brooklyn.

He is survived by his wife, Noémi his brother, Robert his sister, Susan Neidorff Reinglass and his son, Peter. His daughter, Monica Neidorff, died in 2021.

Mr. Neidorff experienced worked for a device of UnitedHealthcare when he was recruited to be main govt of Coordinated Care, the smaller managed-treatment enterprise that would turn into Centene. “It was noticeable they essential a entire improve,” said Robert Ditmore, a longtime Centene board member who was concerned in the company.

Mr. Neidorff expanded aggressively into the Medicaid sector, despite problems about no matter if it would be a thriving enterprise. “I had thoughts about Medicaid is it likely to function?” Mr. Ditmore mentioned. But, he included, Mr. Neidorff persuaded him: “It was obviously a significant sector, so we stated let us go for it.”

Mr. Neidorff took the organization community in 2001. In 2016, he acquired a California insurer, Overall health Web, which offered non-public ideas for another governing administration method, Medicare.

When the Very affordable Treatment Act offered an possibility to sell very low-price private insurance policies by way of the point out markets established up by the federal governing administration, Mr. Ditmore recalled, Mr. Neidorff was eager to come to be a main participant, in spite of uncertainty about how insurers must value their guidelines in the new industry. “He retained pushing for it,” Mr. Ditmore reported. “He was a bulldog with a bone in his mouth.”