39 workers get layoff notices from BCBSRI

PROVIDENCE – Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island has notified 39 of its roughly 1,100 employees that they are being laid off, a company spokeswoman said today.
The job cuts affect “literally all departments,” but do not involve customer-service positions, said Kim Keough, assistant vice president for public relations. They are part of a larger effort to cut $13 million from the company’s nearly $2 billion budget.
Keough said Blue Cross, the state’s dominant health insurer, is “under increasing competitive pressure to provide high-quality health insurance for less,” and by reducing its administrative costs, it would “enhance our competitiveness in an ever changing industry and marketplace.”
“We have to think about the long-term viability of the company,” she said.
Along with the layoffs, Keough said, Blue Cross is reducing or eliminating several, mostly small, programs “that are great to do” but are not central to the company’s operations.
Two programs affected are quality management, which is being “decentralized” and reduced in scope, she said, and health literacy – educational outreach programs to help people better understand their health and how to make the most of the health care system.
Both are programs that have garnered Blue Cross praise and respect in the community and in industry circles; neither is being fully eliminated, but both are being scaled back.
Keough also said Blue Cross plans to change its employee benefits and require more of its workers, instead of just upper management, to pay a part of their health insurance costs. She could not specify how much those workers will be required to pay.
Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island, based in Providence, covers more than 670,000 subscribers statewide. BCBSRI is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. Additional information is available at www.bcbsri.com.