Blue Cross RI cuts 103 jobs

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) - Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island has laid off 58 of its employees and eliminated 45 other vacant jobs, the insurer announced Wednesday.

“The decision to reduce our workforce was very difficult, particularly during these challenging economic times,” said Laura Calenda, a spokeswoman for Blue Cross.

This is at least the third round of layoffs at Blue Cross since Rhode Island’s economy began to weaken more than three years ago. The insurer cut 39 jobs in September 2007 and eliminated an additional 74 jobs about a year later.

The latest cuts were made “to ensure BCBSRI’s financial stability” by reducing expenses and to help keep health care costs from rising further for its roughly 600,000 members, Calenda said.

In April, Blue Cross disclosed that it lost $100 million in 2009 as its revenue rose to $1.7 billion but expenses hit $1.8 billion. CEO James Purcell said then that the insurer’s premiums were not keeping pace with the rising cost of medical care.

Earlier this month, R.I. Health Insurance Commissioner Christopher Koller said he would allow Blue Cross to increase premiums for employers by 9.8 percent in 2011. The insurer had sought approval for increases of 12.4 percent to 13.2 percent.

Blue Cross is by far the most dominant health insurer in Rhode Island, covering 79 percent of the state’s insured population in 2007, according to the American Medical Association. Second-ranked UnitedHealth Group Inc. covered just 16 percent.

Blue Cross said it still has more than 1,000 employees even after the 103 job cuts announced Wednesday. The company moved into its $90 million new 13-story headquarters overlooking Waterplace Park in Providence last fall.