Elizabeth "Betty" Brinn
Co-founder 1984Background
Elizabeth "Betty" Brinn worked as a hospital bookkeeper in Milwaukee before founding the Medicaid plan that became Centene. That administrative experience, and a focus on low-income families, shaped the plan's original mission.
Role at Centene Corporation
Elizabeth "Betty" Brinn founded Centene's predecessor in 1984 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. A former hospital bookkeeper, she launched Family Hospital Physician Associates as a nonprofit Medicaid plan, operating from offices in Family Hospital. Its purpose was to coordinate care for Medicaid members, many of them low-income mothers and children, who had trouble finding doctors willing to accept Medicaid's low payment rates and often relied on emergency rooms for routine care. After Brinn's death, the nonprofit was sold to investors and the proceeds went to the Betty Brinn Foundation. The business was renamed Centene in 1997 and, under Michael Neidorff, grew into a national managed care company. Milwaukee's Betty Brinn Children's Museum carries her name. (Exact birth year remains publicly undisclosed).