Keeping Affordable Care Act customers covered as uncertainty narrows their options.

In mid-August, about 8,000 people in 14 Nevada counties faced the likelihood that they’d have no Affordable Care Act health-plan options in 2018. Then, insurer Centene announced that one of its subsidiaries would serve the state’s “bare” counties. This same subsidiary is a key part of Nevada’s Medicaid managed-care program. Centene is betting it can succeed in markets that higher-profile insurers have fled in the face of continuing uncertainty over the ACA. The bet is paying off financially: Centene reported $12 billion in total revenues in the second quarter (a 10% year-over-year improvement).