How many employees does Centene have? Headcount by year from its 10-K

This page is for sellers sizing Centene as an account, analysts comparing health insurers, and anyone who needs a Centene headcount they can cite. Every figure comes from Centene's annual report on Form 10-K, which gives the year-end headcount in its Human Capital Resources section. Centene doesn't report headcount in its quarterly 10-Qs or earnings releases, so the 2025 10-K is still the newest company figure, even though the 2026 filings describe a voluntary separation program.

Centene employees by year

Each filing gives the figure as "approximately", rounded to the nearest hundred. The changes are our arithmetic. Some data sites list 67,000 for 2023; the 10-K says 67,700.

What the number includes

• The wording has changed three times. The 2018 to 2020 filings count "employees". The 2021 and 2022 filings count "full-time equivalent (FTE) employees", which converts part-time staff into fractions of a full-time job. Since 2023 the filing says "team members" and doesn't say whether that is a headcount or an FTE figure. Small moves across those boundaries may be partly a change of basis.
• The whole group, including businesses later sold. The 2023 10-K says: "As of December 31, 2023, we had approximately 67,700 team members. Circle Health, divested in January 2024, had approximately 8,300 team members at December 31, 2023." So the 2023 figure counts a UK hospital operator that left a month later.
• No contractor count. The 10-K doesn't report contractors or temporary staff separately, so don't add any.
• Mostly remote. The 2025 10-K says "the majority of our team members" use "remote and hybrid work arrangements." Centene owns its headquarters in St. Louis, Missouri, and leases space in the states where its health plans operate, so headcount is spread across many states rather than concentrated in one campus.

What changed and why

• 2019 and 2020: WellCare. Headcount rose from 47,300 to 56,600 in 2019, which the filing doesn't explain, and then to 71,300 in 2020. The 2020 10-K says the number of employees "increased by approximately 14,700 or 26%, primarily due to the acquisition of WellCare in 2020."
• 2021 and 2022: buying abroad and Magellan. Centene bought the remaining 60% of Circle Health in July 2021. The 2021 10-K says headcount grew "primarily due to the international expansion offset by the divestiture of USMM." In January 2022 it acquired Magellan Health for $2.5 billion, and the count reached 74,300 at the end of 2022.
• 2022 to 2024: selling non-core businesses. The 10-Ks list the exits: the Spanish and Central European businesses (November 2022), Magellan Rx ($1.3 billion, December 2022), Centurion and HealthSmart (January 2023), Apixio (June 2023), Operose Health in the UK (December 2023), Circle Health ($931 million, January 2024) and Collaborative Health Systems (October 2024). The 2023 results also carried $79 million of "severance costs due to a restructuring." Taking Circle Health's 8,300 out of the 2023 count leaves about 59,400, so the like-for-like change to 60,500 in 2024 was a small rise (our calculation).
• 2026: a voluntary separation program. The 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2026 says that in July 2026 Centene "committed to accept employees' offers to participate in a voluntary separation program." It recorded $263 million of severance in the third quarter, primarily for the program, and expects $50 million to $100 million more in the rest of 2026. The October 27, 2026 earnings release puts full-year 2026 severance for "enterprise optimization and contract exits" at about $355 million to $405 million. Neither filing says how many people accepted, so the 2026 year-end figure in the next 10-K is the first place to see the effect.

Revenue per employee

Centene's 2025 total revenues were $194,777 million. Divided by about 61,100 team members, that's $194,777 million ÷ 61,100 = about $3.19 million per team member (our calculation). For 2024 the same sum ($163,071 million ÷ 60,500) gives about $2.70 million, and for 2020 ($111,115 million ÷ 71,300) about $1.56 million.

That's far higher than at most employers because an insurer's revenue is mostly premiums, and most premium dollars are paid out as medical costs. Compare it only with other health insurers. A more useful ratio for sizing the business is members: Centene had 27,633,500 at-risk members at the end of 2025, or about 452 per team member (our calculation).

The 10-K doesn't split team members by segment or state, so revenue per head can't be worked out for Medicaid or the Marketplace business. To compare Centene with its peers, see the largest health insurance companies.

Selling to a company of Centene's size

General guidance on how a 60,000-person managed care company buys, not a description of Centene's internal processes.

• Map the state plans as well as the corporate functions. Medicaid, its largest segment, runs through state contracts and local health plans, so some buying sits with a plan's leadership and some with enterprise teams in technology, clinical operations, claims or member services.
• Lead with cost and compliance. The 2026 filings describe "enterprise optimization" and a voluntary separation program, and the company is spending on third-party vendors to deliver it. An offer that takes cost out, shown in Centene's own terms (SG&A ratio, cost per member), lands better than one that adds headcount.
• Expect privacy and security review. Anything that touches member data falls under HIPAA, and state Medicaid contracts add their own requirements, so security and compliance reviews come before a pilot.
• Name the owner. Work out who signs, who uses and who can block; our guide to finding decision makers shows how, and the economic buyer definition helps you find the person who controls the budget.

Mapping the right team across dozens of state plans is the slow part. Bebop researches each account and suggests who to talk to and the angle to open with; check what it finds against the company's filings.

How to check the number yourself

1. Open Centene's 10-K filings on SEC EDGAR and pick the latest, filed each February.
2. In Item 1, find "Human Capital Resources". The headcount is the first sentence.
3. For changes during the year, search the latest 10-Q for "severance" and "voluntary separation".
4. Before you compare Centene with another insurer, check whether both figures are headcounts or full-time equivalents.

Next step: compare Centene with other insurers on our list of the largest health insurance companies.