Centene Announces New Gudance on Increased Healthcare Costs

Centene Corporation (NYSE: CNC) today announced preliminary earnings per diluted share of $0.10-$0.12 for the second quarter of 2006, which includes an adjustment of approximately $9.7 million, or $0.14 per diluted share, for additional medical costs primarily related to March 2006 in Indiana and Texas.

Centene also announced today that it is revising its 2006 annual earnings guidance to $0.95-$1.04 per diluted share from its previous guidance of $1.53-$1.70 per diluted share, primarily due to these adverse medical cost trends. The Company will provide additional details to this guidance on its conference call scheduled for Tuesday, July 25, 2006.

Michael F. Neidorff, Centene’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, said, “We are truly disappointed and are working to resolve the factors which impacted our second quarter results and will provide additional details on our conference call next week. We are in the process of finalizing an in-depth analysis to determine the root cause of these issues.”

Centene Corporation is a leading multi-line healthcare enterprise that provides programs and related services to individuals receiving benefits under Medicaid.