v2.4.0.8

Earnings Per Share (Tables) | 12 Months Ended
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Dec. 31, 2013
Earnings Per Share [Abstract] |
Calculation Of Basic And Diluted Net Earnings Per Common Share | The following table sets forth the calculation of basic and diluted net earnings per common share for the years ended December 31:
| 2013 |  | 2012 |  | 2011
Earnings attributable to Centene Corporation: |  |  |  |  |
Earnings from continuing operations, net of tax | $ | 161,218 |  |  | $ | 88,533 |  |  | $ | 120,518 |
Discontinued operations, net of tax | 3,881 |  |  | (86,674 | ) |  | (9,300 | )
Net earnings | $ | 165,099 |  |  | $ | 1,859 |  |  | $ | 111,218 |
Shares used in computing per share amounts: |  |  |  |  |  |
Weighted average number of common shares outstanding | 54,126,545 |  |  | 51,509,366 |  |  | 50,198,954 |
Common stock equivalents (as determined by applying the treasury stock method) | 2,120,628 |  |  | 2,205,009 |  |  | 2,275,284 |
Weighted average number of common shares and potential dilutive common shares outstanding | 56,247,173 |  |  | 53,714,375 |  |  | 52,474,238 |
Net earnings per common share attributable to Centene Corporation: |  |  |  |  |
Basic: |  |  |  |  |
Continuing operations | $ | 2.98 |  |  | $ | 1.72 |  |  | $ | 2.40 |
Discontinued operations | 0.07 |  |  | (1.68 | ) |  | (0.18 | )
Basic earnings per common share | $ | 3.05 |  |  | $ | 0.04 |  |  | $ | 2.22 |
Diluted: |  |  |  |  |
Continuing operations | $ | 2.87 |  |  | $ | 1.65 |  |  | $ | 2.30 |
Discontinued operations | 0.07 |  |  | (1.62 | ) |  | (0.18 | )
Diluted earnings per common share | $ | 2.94 |  |  | $ | 0.03 |  |  | $ | 2.12 |

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- Definition Tabular disclosure of an entity's basic and diluted earnings per share calculations, including a reconciliation of numerators and denominators of the basic and diluted per-share computations for income from continuing operations. + References Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 260 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 1 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6371337&loc=d3e3550-109257 + Details
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