UCare is laying off roughly 250 employees in early January as the Minneapolis-based nonprofit insurer moves toward shutting down, the Minnesota Star Tribune reported Dec. 12.
Another 650 workers are expected to transition to jobs at Medica, which announced in November it would acquire UCare’s Medicaid and ACA businesses. Medica confirmed to the newspaper that it would offer roles to those employees, subject to its standard hiring process.
About 450 additional employees working on the Medica transition may not have jobs once UCare fully winds down, according to the report. In total, roughly 700 workers are being laid off or are at risk.
The layoffs come shortly after the Tribune reported that Minnesota regulators filed a petition seeking court authority to place UCare in “rehabilitation” status, which would give the state control over the nonprofit. The filing revealed the state placed UCare under administrative supervision in September and directed it to pursue an acquisition or merger.
UCare reported an operating loss of $504 million in 2024. The insurer exited the Medicare Advantage market earlier this year, a move affecting about 158,000 members in Minnesota and western Wisconsin, where it held 26% market share. CMS formally terminated UCare’s MA contracts in September after the company missed a contract execution deadline.
The Medica deal, which covers more than 300,000 Medicaid and ACA enrollees, is expected to close in the first quarter of 2026.
