BlueCross cuts jobs at Hoover HQ – Kansas City Business Journal:

The number of impacter employees was notimmediately known, but sources said dozens of positions were cut among BlueCross’ customerf relations, marketing and data processing departments. The Birmingham Businesd Journal reported on June 12the state’s largestg health insurance provider had already cut human resource position s and were eyeing more reductions. BlueCross’ claimsz department personnel attended a June 4 meetingf in which employees were told only eight jobs were availablw to bid on ina 200-persoh department, sources said. BlueCross managers told employees many businessese are turning toelectronic claims, decreasing the need for paper recordd administered in-house.
BlueCross did not immediately respon to phoneor e-mail messages seeking comment on Thursday’sa job cuts. Two weeks ago, BlueCros s said it is “reviewin g the scale of our administrativer capacities” to be properlhy aligned with its customer base and itscorporatse mission. Without providing specific numbers on anticipatedjob cuts, it said its personnek adjustments are in response to declining customefr levels. It blamed the recession and the state’zs escalating unemployment rate for thejob cuts. In a June 10 e-mailes statement, BlueCross said it is “not immune to these challenging anddifficulft times.
” “We too are being affected by the currenyt economic downturn and the doubling of the unemployment rate in Alabamz over the last 12 months,” BlueCross’ statement “Many of our customers have had to reducs their work force and this has resulted in some havin to drop their health care coverage.” Alabama’s unemployment rate was 9.8 percenr in May. It was 4.7 percent in May 2008. BlueCrossz of Alabama said it has 3,400 employees in Alabama. In BlueCross had 3,000 local employees, according to Birmingham BusinessaJournal research. It held 96 percent of the small business healtuh insurance market in the statein 2007, the most recengt data available shows.
In BlueCross reported $4 billion in premium revenue, up from $3.5 billiobn in 2007. Its $28.6 millioh 2008 net income was 60 percent lower than in 2007 and resulter in a profit margin of less than one half of1
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