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To: patron_anejo_por_favor who wrote (346506)	10/25/2007 12:28:05 PM
From: ldo79	Respond to of 436258

WellCare Shares Lose Half Their Value After FBI Raid (Update2) By Catherine Larkin Oct. 25 (Bloomberg) -- WellCare Health Plans Inc., a manager of medical care sponsored by the U.S. government, lost more than half its value on the New York Stock Exchange after disclosing investigations by U.S. and Florida prosecutors. WellCare dropped by $73.67, or 64 percent, to $41.50 in composite trading at 11:47 a.m., and earlier sank 76 percent. It was the biggest decline since WellCare began public trading in June 2004. Agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Florida Attorney General's Medicaid fraud unit searched WellCare's headquarters in Tampa yesterday, according to a statement from James Klindt, acting U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Florida. Officials didn't describe what they were seeking, and the company declined to elaborate today. ``The underlying reason is unknown, and may not be known for days if not weeks or months,'' said Thomas Carroll, an analyst at Stifel, Nicolaus & Co. in Baltimore, in a note to clients yesterday. When federal agents ``raid a health-care company, the outlook on earnings, legal proceedings, and the entire operations of the company can be questioned,'' he said. Carroll was one of at least three analysts who downgraded WellCare shares to ``sell'' from ``hold'' or ``neutral'' after the raid was announced. Medicare Advantage Todd Farha, WellCare's chief executive officer, said in a taped message today that the company is cooperating with the investigation and that customer service won't be interrupted. He said the authorities had a search warrant for ``documents and files'' and some employees left the office yesterday to give the agents easier access to what they were seeking. ``As you would expect, we are not in a position to share with you additional details regarding this investigation,'' Farha said. ``We will provide additional information as appropriate.'' WellCare covers the elderly and disabled under the U.S. Medicare program, and the poor under Medicaid, a state-U.S. program. The company is one of the largest providers of benefits through the Medicare Advantage program, with 155,000 enrolled. The $76.3 billion system pays insurers to provide benefits for elderly people who designate the plans to coordinate their care.