# Magellan Health

> Magellan Health is one of the country's largest independent behavioral health and specialty care companies. It manages mental health, substance use, and complex specialty benefits on behalf of health plans, employers, unions, and government agencies - the plumbing that decides how care gets approved, coordinated, and paid for behind the scenes. Founded in 1969 as a psychiatric hospital chain, it reinvented itself as a managed care operator, was bought by Centene in 2022 for $2.2 billion, and in 2026 struck a deal to become independent again under Madison Health Group.

- **Founded:** 1969
- **Headquarters:** Scottsdale, Arizona, United States
- **Founders:** Founded as Charter Medical Corporation (Original entity (psychiatric hospital chain))
- **Team size:** ~9,000 employees
- **Products:** Magellan Healthcare, Employee Assistance Programs (EAP), Magellan Specialty Health, Magellan Rx Management, Magellan Federal
- **Notable:** Grew from a bankrupt psychiatric hospital chain into a Fortune 500 company (ranked #390 in 2021)., Built one of the largest independent behavioral health managed care operations in the United States., Pioneered the behavioral health 'carve-out' model adopted across the managed care industry.

## Products & services

- **Magellan Healthcare** — Managed behavioral health services for health plans, Medicaid and Medicare programs, employers, and government agencies - including crisis services, autism and applied behavior analysis, foster care behavioral health, and complex/high-acuity case management.
- **Employee Assistance Programs (EAP)** — Workplace mental health, counseling, and wellbeing programs sold to employers, labor unions, and government employers.
- **Magellan Specialty Health** — Radiology and imaging benefit management, musculoskeletal, cardiac, and other specialty care management (divested to Evolent Health in 2022).
- **Magellan Rx Management** — Pharmacy benefit management and medical pharmacy / specialty drug management, including Medicaid pharmacy administration (divested to Prime Therapeutics in 2022 for ~$1.35B).
- **Magellan Federal** — Behavioral health and wellbeing services for active-duty military, veterans, and federal agencies.

## Achievements

- Grew from a bankrupt psychiatric hospital chain into a Fortune 500 company (ranked #390 in 2021).
- Built one of the largest independent behavioral health managed care operations in the United States.
- Pioneered the behavioral health 'carve-out' model adopted across the managed care industry.
- Sold Magellan Rx to Prime Therapeutics for approximately $1.35 billion in 2022.
- Served as the behavioral health platform for Centene, one of the largest Medicaid managed care organizations.

## Latest updates

- **2026-02** — Centene agreed to sell Magellan Health to Madison Health Group, an investment group; Magellan is set to operate as an independent behavioral health company again for the first time since 2022.
- **2026-02** — Reports indicated Centene was prepared to sell Magellan even at a loss relative to its $2.2 billion purchase price.
- **2025-07** — Caroline Carney, MD - a board-certified psychiatrist and internist - was named CEO of Magellan Health.

## Links

- Website: https://magellanhealth.com
- LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/magellan-health
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/MagellanHealth
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MagellanHealth/

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/magellan-health
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-08-12