On Monday, the Ohio Tax Credit Authority approved a 40 percent, seven-year job creation tax credit for the company’s expansion project which will generate $6.3 million in additional annual payroll and retain $59.3 million in existing payroll, according to Gov. John Kasich’s office.
Dayton Development Coalition President and CEO Jeff Hoagland said additional income downtown will have a positive domino effect on the whole region.
“(CareSource has) been committed to Dayton and downtown,” he said. “And it’s important for the core city to be thriving.”
The health care industry is one of the coalition’s four targeted growth areas with more than $6.5 billion in annual impact on the region already, Hoagland said. “We see that area as a high growth area in the future.”
The tax credit authority approved a total of 18 economic development proposals submitted through JobsOhio which are expected to collectively create 1,217 jobs across the state and inject $200 million in capital investment and $49 million in new payroll into the state’s economy, the governor’s office said.
The goal of the CareSource and Humana partnership is to provide coordinated Medicaid and Medicare coverage in multiple states, beginning in Ohio, where more than 190,000 Ohioans are eligible for both the state and federally administered programs, according to the Ohio Office of Health Transformation.
CareSource President and Chief Executive Officer Pamela Morris said in March that the alliance between the state’s largest Medicaid provider and the nation’s second largest Medicare Advantage provider is a “game-changer.”
“Our recent alliance with Humana accounts for a significant portion of our projected job growth,” she said in a statement Monday. “We are pleased this partnership will bring jobs to Ohio, particularly to our downtown Dayton headquarters.”
Company spokeswoman Betsy Woods said the jobs are all full time, carry an average annual salary of $45,000, and will be in various departments including IT, claims, and the customer service call center.
Hiring will begin this year, Woods said.
Downtown Dayton Partnership President Sandy Gudorf said new jobs downtown are always exciting because “more feet on the street adds to the vitality of downtown.”
“Since (CareSource) opened their headquarters they have continued to bring in more jobs,” she said.
In April, CareSource was one of five managed-care organizations to be awarded an Ohio Medicaid contract. It was a vital win for the company because serving Medicaid-enrolled Ohioans accounted for most of its $2.8 billion in revenues in 2011. The same month, the company announced its intention to sell its Lansing, Mich., operation, which employed 40 people, to McLaren Health Plan.
About the Author