April 15 (Bloomberg) — For WellCare Health Plans Inc., Medicare and Medicaid are the ticket to a takeover.

WellCare gets almost all of its revenue from Medicare and Medicaid, which provide medical coverage to the elderly, disabled and poor. Both programs are seeing rising demand as the baby boomer population ages and state governments with tight budgets shift more patients to managed-care companies like WellCare. That makes the Tampa, Florida-based company an appealing target for larger providers such as Cigna Corp. who want to tap that growth potential, said Credit Suisse Group AG.

Revenue at WellCare is forecast to climb about 45 percent through 2015, almost twice the median of its peers, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The $2.8 billion company has also been without a permanent chief executive officer since November, making it more vulnerable to a takeover, said Stifel Financial Corp., which estimated the provider could get as much as a 34 percent premium in a sale. Aetna Inc. and Humana Inc. could also be interested in WellCare, said Jefferies Group.