Blue Cross lays off 39 as part of effort<br> to cut $13M from its budget

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 Monday.

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 an effort to cut $13 million from the company’s $1.9 billion budget.

Keough said Blue Cross 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.

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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 operations – including quality management and health literacy programs.

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.

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