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                                                                    EXHIBIT 10.5


                       2002 EMPLOYEE STOCK PURCHASE PLAN

     The purpose of this Plan is to provide eligible employees of Centene
Corporation (the "Company") and certain of its subsidiaries with opportunities
to purchase shares of the Company's common stock, $.001 par value (the "Common
Stock"), commencing on July 1, 2002. An aggregate of 300,000 shares of Common
Stock has been approved for this purpose. This Plan is intended to qualify as an
"employee stock purchase plan" as defined in Section 423 of the Internal Revenue
Code of 1986, as amended (the "Code"), and the regulations promulgated
thereunder, and shall be interpreted consistently therewith.

     1.  Administration.  The Plan will be administered by the Company's Board
of Directors (the "Board") or by a Committee appointed by the Board (the
"Committee"). The Board or the Committee has authority to make rules and
regulations for the administration of the Plan and its interpretation and
decisions with regard thereto shall be final and conclusive.

     2.  Eligibility.  All employees of the Company, including directors who are
employees, and all employees of any subsidiary of the Company (as defined in
Section 424(f) of the Code) designated by the Board or the Committee from time
to time (a "Designated Subsidiary"), are eligible to participate in any one or
more of the offerings of Options (as defined in Section 9) to purchase Common
Stock under the Plan provided that:

          (a) they are customarily employed by the Company or a Designated
     Subsidiary for more than 20 hours a week and for more than five months in a
     calendar year; and

          (b) they have been employed by the Company or a Designated Subsidiary
     for at least ninety days prior to enrolling in the Plan; and

          (c) they are employees of the Company or a Designated Subsidiary on
     the first day of the applicable Plan Period (as defined below).

No employee may be granted an option hereunder if such employee, immediately
after the option is granted, owns five percent or more of the total combined
voting power or value of the stock of the Company or any subsidiary. For
purposes of the preceding sentence, the attribution rules of Section 424(d) of
the Code shall apply in determining the stock ownership of an employee, and all
stock that the employee has a contractual right to purchase shall be treated as
stock owned by the employee.

     3.  Offerings.  The Company will make one or more offerings ("Offerings")
to employees to purchase stock under this Plan. Offerings will begin each
January 1, April 1, July 1 and October 1, or the first business day thereafter
(the "Offering Commencement Dates"). Each Offering Commencement Date will begin
a three-month period (a "Plan Period") during which payroll deductions will be
made and held for the purchase of Common Stock at the end of the Plan Period.
The Board or the Committee may, at its discretion, choose a different Plan
Period of twelve months or less for subsequent Offerings.

     4.  Participation.  An employee eligible on the Offering Commencement Date
of any Offering may participate in such Offering by completing and forwarding a
payroll deduction authorization form to the employee's appropriate payroll
office at least ten days prior to the applicable Offering Commencement Date. The
form will authorize a regular payroll deduction from the Compensation received
by the employee during the Plan Period. Unless an employee files a new form or
withdraws from the Plan, the employee's deductions and purchases will continue
at the same rate for future Offerings under the Plan as long as the Plan remains
in effect. The term "Compensation" means the amount of money reportable on the
employee's Federal Income Tax Withholding Statement, excluding overtime,
incentive or bonus awards, allowances and reimbursements for expenses such as
relocation allowances for travel expenses, income or gains on the exercise of
Company stock options or stock appreciation rights, and similar items, whether
or not shown on the employee's Federal Income Tax Withholding Statement.

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     5.  Deductions.  The Company will maintain payroll deduction accounts for
all participating employees. With respect to any Offering made under this Plan,
an employee may authorize a payroll deduction in any dollar amount equal to:

          (a) from a minimum 1.0% to a maximum of 5.0% (or, if the Common Stock,
     as traded on the Nasdaq National Market and published in The Wall Street
     Journal, maintains a closing price of greater than or equal to $50.00 per
     share on each day for a period of nine consecutive full calendar months,
     10.0%), as specified by the employee, multiplied by;

          (b) the amount of Compensation the employee receives during the Plan
     Period (or such shorter period during which deductions from payroll are
     made), up to a maximum of $4,165 of Compensation per month.

     6.  Deduction Changes.  An employee may decrease or discontinue the
employee's payroll deduction once during any Plan Period, by filing a new
payroll deduction authorization form. An employee may not, however, increase the
employee's payroll deduction during a Plan Period. If an employee elects to
discontinue the employee's payroll deductions during a Plan Period, but does not
elect to withdraw the employee's funds pursuant to Section 8 hereof, funds
deducted prior to the employee's election to discontinue will be applied to the
purchase of Common Stock on the Exercise Date (as defined below).

     7.  Interest.  Interest will not be paid on any employee accounts, except
to the extent that the Board or the Committee, in its sole discretion, elects to
credit employee accounts with interest at such per annum rate as it may from
time to time determine.

     8.  Withdrawal of Funds.  An employee may at any time prior to the close of
business on the last business day in a Plan Period and for any reason
permanently draw out the balance accumulated in the employee's account and
thereby withdraw from participation in an Offering. Partial withdrawals are not
permitted. The employee may not begin participation again during the remainder
of the Plan Period. If an employee withdraws from participation in an Offering,
he or she may not participate in the immediately following Offering but may
participate in the second following Offering and any Offering thereafter in
accordance with terms and conditions established by the Board or the Committee.

     9.  Purchase of Shares.  On the Offering Commencement Date of each Plan
Period, the Company will grant to each eligible employee who is then a
participant in the Plan an option ("Option") to purchase on the last business
day of such Plan Period (the "Exercise Date"), at the Option Price hereinafter
provided for, the largest number of whole shares of Common Stock of the Company
as does not exceed the number of shares determined by multiplying $2,083 by the
number of full months in the Offering Period and dividing the result by the
closing price (as defined below) on the Offering Commencement Date of such Plan
Period.

     Notwithstanding the above, no employee may be granted an Option (as defined
in Section 9) that permits the employee's rights to purchase Common Stock under
this Plan and any other employee stock purchase plan (as defined in Section
423(b) of the Code) of the Company and its subsidiaries, to accrue at a rate
that exceeds $25,000 of the fair market value of such Common Stock (determined
at the Offering Commencement Date of the Plan Period) for each calendar year in
which the Option is outstanding at any time.

     The purchase price for each share purchased will be 85% of the closing
price of the Common Stock on (i) the first business day of such Plan Period or
(ii) the Exercise Date, whichever closing price shall be less. Such closing
price shall be (a) the closing price on any national securities exchange on
which the Common Stock is listed, (b) the closing price of the Common Stock on
the Nasdaq National Market or (c) the average of the closing bid and asked
prices in the over-the-counter-market, whichever is applicable, as published in
The Wall Street Journal. If no sales of Common Stock were made on such a day,
the price of the Common Stock for purposes of clauses (a) and (b) above shall be
the reported price for the next preceding day on which sales were made.

     Each employee who continues to be a participant in the Plan on the Exercise
Date shall be deemed to have exercised the employee's Option at the Option Price
on such date and shall be deemed to have purchased

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from the Company the number of full shares of Common Stock reserved for the
purpose of the Plan that the employee's accumulated payroll deductions on such
date will pay for, but not in excess of the maximum number determined in the
manner set forth above.

     Any balance remaining in an employee's payroll deduction account at the end
of a Plan Period will be automatically refunded to the employee, except that any
balance that is less than the purchase price of one share of Common Stock will
be carried forward into the employee's payroll deduction account for the
following Offering, unless the employee elects not to participate in the
following Offering under the Plan, in which case the balance in the employee's
account shall be refunded.

     10.  Issuance of Certificates.  Certificates representing shares of Common
Stock purchased under the Plan may be issued only in the name of the employee,
in the name of the employee and another person of legal age as joint tenants
with rights of survivorship, or (in the Company's sole discretion) in the name
of a brokerage firm, bank or other nominee holder designated by the employee.
The Company may, in its sole discretion and in compliance with applicable laws,
authorize the use of book entry registration of shares in lieu of issuing stock
certificates.

     11.  Rights on Retirement, Death or Termination of Employment.  In the
event of a participating employee's termination of employment prior to the last
business day of a Plan Period, no payroll deduction shall be taken from any pay
due and owing to an employee and the balance in the employee's account shall be
paid to the employee or, in the event of the employee's death, (a) to a
beneficiary previously designated in a revocable notice signed by the employee
(with any spousal consent required under state law), (b) in the absence of such
a designated beneficiary, to the executor or administrator of the employee's
estate, or (c) if no such executor or administrator has been appointed to the
knowledge of the Company, to such other person or persons as the Company may, in
its discretion, designate. If, prior to the last business day of the Plan
Period, the Designated Subsidiary by which an employee is employed shall cease
to be a subsidiary of the Company, or if the employee is transferred to a
subsidiary of the Company that is not a Designated Subsidiary, the employee
shall be deemed to have terminated employment for the purposes of this Plan.

     12.  Optionees Not Stockholders.  Neither the granting of an Option to an
employee nor the deductions from the employee's pay shall constitute such
employee a stockholder of the shares of Common Stock covered by an Option under
this Plan until such shares have been purchased by and issued to him.

     13.  Rights Not Transferable.  Rights under this Plan are not transferable
by a participating employee other than by will or the laws of descent and
distribution, and are exercisable during the employee's lifetime only by the
employee.

     14.  Application of Funds.  All funds received or held by the Company under
this Plan may be combined with other corporate funds and may be used for any
corporate purpose.

     15.  Adjustment in Case of Changes Affecting Common Stock.  In the event of
a subdivision of outstanding shares of Common Stock, or the payment of a
dividend in Common Stock, the number of shares approved for this Plan, and the
share limitation set forth in Section 9, shall be increased proportionately, and
such other adjustment shall be made as may be deemed equitable by the Board or
the Committee. In the event of any other change affecting the Common Stock, such
adjustment shall be made as may be deemed equitable by the Board or the
Committee to give proper effect to such event.

     16.  Holding Period.  By purchasing shares hereunder, absent written
consent from the Company to the contrary, the employee agrees not to sell,
contract to sell, make any short sale of, grant any option for the purchase of
or otherwise dispose of any of said shares during the 90 day period following
the Exercise Date of the Plan Period pursuant to which the shares were
purchased.

     17.  Merger.  If the Company shall at any time merge or consolidate with
another corporation and the holders of the capital stock of the Company
immediately prior to such merger or consolidation continue to hold at least 80%
by voting power of the capital stock of the surviving corporation ("Continuity
of Control"), the holder of each Option then outstanding will thereafter be
entitled to receive at the next Exercise Date upon the exercise of such Option
for each share as to which such Option shall be exercised the securities or

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property that a holder of one share of the Common Stock was entitled to upon and
at the time of such merger or consolidation, and the Board or the Committee
shall take such steps in connection with such merger or consolidation as the
Board or the Committee shall deem necessary to assure that the provisions of
Section 15 shall thereafter be applicable, as nearly as reasonably may be, in
relation to the said securities or property as to which such holder of such
Option might thereafter be entitled to receive thereunder.

     In the event of a merger or consolidation of the Company with or into
another corporation that does not involve Continuity of Control, or of a sale of
all or substantially all of the assets of the Company while unexercised Options
remain outstanding under the Plan: (a) subject to the provisions of clauses (b)
and (c), after the effective date of such transaction, each holder of an
outstanding Option shall be entitled, upon exercise of such Option, to receive
in lieu of shares of Common Stock, shares of such stock or other securities as
the holders of shares of Common Stock received pursuant to the terms of such
transaction; (b) all outstanding Options may be cancelled by the Board or the
Committee as of a date prior to the effective date of any such transaction and
all payroll deductions shall be paid out to the participating employees; or (c)
all outstanding Options may be cancelled by the Board or the Committee as of the
effective date of any such transaction, provided that notice of such
cancellation shall be given to each holder of an Option, and each holder of an
Option shall have the right to exercise such Option in full based on payroll
deductions then credited to the employee's account as of a date determined by
the Board or the Committee, which date shall not be less than ten days preceding
the effective date of such transaction.

     18.  Amendment of the Plan.  The Board may at any time, and from time to
time, amend this Plan in any respect, except that (a) if the approval of any
such amendment by the stockholders of the Company is required by Section 423 of
the Code, such amendment shall not be effected without such approval, and (b) in
no event may any amendment be made that would cause the Plan to fail to comply
with Section 423 of the Code.

     19.  Insufficient Shares.  In the event that the total number of shares of
Common Stock specified in elections to be purchased under any Offering plus the
number of shares purchased under previous Offerings under this Plan exceeds the
maximum number of shares issuable under this Plan, the Board or the Committee
will allot the shares then available on a pro rata basis.

     20.  Termination of the Plan.  This Plan may be terminated at any time by
the Board. Upon termination of this Plan all amounts in the accounts of
participating employees shall be promptly refunded.

     21.  Governmental Regulations.  The Company's obligation to sell and
deliver Common Stock under this Plan is subject to listing on a national stock
exchange or quotation on The Nasdaq National Market (to the extent the Common
Stock is then so listed or quoted) and the approval of all governmental
authorities required in connection with the authorization, issuance or sale of
such stock.

     22.  Governing Law.  The Plan shall be governed by Missouri law except to
the extent that such law is preempted by federal law.

     23.  Issuance of Shares.  Shares may be issued upon exercise of an Option
from authorized but unissued Common Stock, from shares held in the treasury of
the Company, or from any other proper source.

     24.  Notification upon Sale of Shares.  Each employee agrees, by entering
the Plan, to promptly give the Company notice of any disposition of shares
purchased under the Plan where such disposition occurs within two years after
the date of grant of the Option pursuant to which such shares were purchased.

     25.  Withholding.  Each employee shall, no later than the date of the event
creating the tax liability, make provision satisfactory to the Board for payment
of any taxes required by law to be withheld in connection with any transaction
related to Options granted to or shares acquired by such employee pursuant to
the Plan. The Company may, to the extent permitted by law, deduct any such taxes
from any payment of any kind otherwise due to an employee.

     26.  Effective Date and Approval of Stockholders.  The Plan shall take
effect on April 24, 2002, subject to approval by the stockholders of the Company
as required by Section 423 of the Code, which approval must occur within twelve
months of the adoption of the Plan by the Board.