Serco in $900m contract win for Obamacare

Outsourcer Serco on Wednesday won a contract worth as much as $900 million (£671 million) to help with the delivery of Obamacare in the States.

The FTSE 250 government contractor will process applications at three sites, verify documents and provide customer services to those buying health insurance in the US.

Serco’s update comes just weeks before its existing-five year contract on former President Barack Obama’s signature healthcare bill was due to expire.

A recent budget proposal by President Donald Trump has called for Obamacare to be repealed, but Serco confirmed its new contract, awarded by the US Department of Health and Human Services, is worth up to $900 million between now and 2023.

Rupert Soames, the boss of Serco, said his company has “assisted millions of Americans by adjudicating their health insurance applications, using a combination of skilled staff and process automation to drive down costs and protect programme integrity”.

Shares in Serco rose 1.95p, or more than 2%, to 98.4p.