Amerigroup Corp. said its net income for the fourth quarter increased by about $5 million and its membership rose by 13.2%.

The Virginia Beach, Va.-based company, which provides publicly funded health care in 11 states, including Maryland, New Jersey and Virginia, reported $40.2 million in net income, compared to $35.9 million for the fourth quarter in 2008.

James G. Carlson

For the same period, the company membership of about 1.8 million, up 13.2% from the fourth quarter in 2008 and an increase of 0.6% from the third quarter.

“While total membership exceeded expectations during the year, primarily due to swelling Medicaid eligibility in most states, premium rates were suppressed due to unprecedented state budget deficits,” said James G. Carlson, chairman and CEO of the company, in a statement.

Fourth quarter total revenue was $1.4 billion, showing an 18.5% increase over the fourth quarter of 2008 and a 4.5% increase compared to the third quarter of 2009.

Medical claims payable as of Dec. 31, 2009, totaled $529 million, compared to $550.1 million, as of Sept. 30, 2009. The company saw higher outpatient costs from the H1N1 virus in the third quarter, but its influence lessened in the fourth quarter, company officials said.

Premium revenues for the fourth quarter of 2009 increased 19.3%, to $1.4 billion. It rose 4.5% from the third quarter, boosted by the impact of rate increases in Tennessee and Georgia as well as membership gains in the Temporary Aid for Needy Family (TANF) product in most markets.
Carlson said he was “very pleased with our strong finish to the year.”

The company repurchased about 295,000 shares of its common stock in the fourth quarter for $6.9 million and for the year repurchased about 2.7 million shares for $69.8 million.