Centene Corp. will be allowed to resume selling healthinsurance plans in Washington state, three days after regulatorsordered a halt, saying the company failed to cover enough doctorsand other care providers.

Centene agreed to pay a$500,000 fine, submit to outside monitoring, and take steps toensure its customers have enough access to doctors and hospitals.If the company doesn’t comply, it could end up owing another $1million fine.

“They understand the seriousness of the violations and made acommitment today to correct them,” Mike Kreidler, the state’sinsurance commissioner, said in a statement. “We will be monitoringthe company very closely to make sure that policyholders areprotected and they receive the coverage they’ve paid for.”

Despite the resumption, the brief regulatory hiccup shines anunfavorable light on Centene’s strategy. The insurer, which operatesunder brands including Ambetter, has rapidly expanded sales ofObamacare plans, offering consumers a limited choice of doctors andhospitals in exchange for a lower up-front premium. Bloombergfound earlier this year that some Centenecustomers faced difficulties visiting their preferred hospitals anddoctors in the insurer’s Affordable Care Act plans.

Shares of the St. Louis-based company fell 4.2 percent to $94.86at the close in New York.

In a Dec. 12 order, Washington’s insurance commissioner toldCoordinated Care Corp., a Centene unit, to stop selling 2018 plans.The regulator said it intervened after receiving about 100 consumercomplaints about a lack of doctors in Centene’s network, and thatthe insurer had failed to fix the problems.

“We are committed to address known issues in our network inselect regions of the state, and we have taken actions to ensureour members have access to these services,” Centene said in astatement. “Ambetter from Coordinated Care continues to grow itsnetwork and add providers.”

In Washington’s Obamacare market, Friday is the last day toenroll in coverage that starts on Jan. 1. The final deadline for2018 plans that start later in the year is Jan. 15.

Centene’s plans remained available on the state’sinsurance-shopping website throughout the halt. Steve Valandra, aspokesman for Washington’s insurance regulator, said people whosigned up during the sales interruption would be allowed to enrollin plans.

A Centene representative had no immediate comment. InWashington, the company received a one-star rating, out offive possible stars, on a ranking of customer experience.

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