Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota has announced 50 job cuts, including 27 layoffs tied to the health insurer's decision to outsource management of behavioral health.
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota cutting 50 jobs
About half the layoffs stem from outsourcing behavioral health services.
February 20, 2017 at 10:23PM
Eagan-based Blue Cross announced the job cuts earlier this month. Beginning April 1, all behavioral health services will be managed by Magellan Health, which is based in Arizona.
"Magellan Health is widely recognized as an industry leader in behavioral managed care," Jim McManus, a Blue Cross spokesman, said in a statement. "This agreement will immediately enhance our abilities to more effectively treat and manage some of the most complex and increasingly challenging areas of health care, including mental illness and substance abuse."
Thirteen of the job cuts come in information technology and were announced back in 2015 as part of a multiyear plan to decommission an old IT system.
The remainder of job reductions announced this month are "part of our normal course of business administration adjustments," McManus said in a statement.
"There are no additional job reductions scheduled at this time," he said.
In 2015, Blue Cross reported a net operating loss of $178.1 million on $10.6 billion in revenue. The company is one of the state's largest health insurers with about 3,900 employees.
Magellan Health is a publicly traded company with 2015 net income of $31.4 million on revenue of about $4.6 billion.
Christopher Snowbeck • 612-673-4744
Twitter: @chrissnowbeck
The Minnetonka-based health insurer says the new contract “ensures continued, uninterrupted network access” to hospitals and clinics at the Bloomington-based health system.
