Payers are continuing to trim their workforces amid financial pressures, growing medical and pharmacy utilization, Medicaid funding cuts and strategic restructuring.
Below are workforce reduction efforts or job eliminations that were announced or take effect in 2026. Insurance industry layoffs in 2025 are here.
Editor’s Note: This is not an exhaustive list. This webpage was updated Nov. 11 and will continue to be updated this year.
- Blue Shield of California has implemented or announced 259 job cuts this year during five rounds of layoffs across the state, most recently on Nov. 6.
- Cigna leadership told employees in early November that it expects to implement another reduction in force in early 2027, following the company’s move to cut approximately 2,000 jobs globally at the start of this year. The scope of the impending layoffs was not discussed.
- Centene’s total headcount has dropped nearly 12% between the end of 2025 and the third quarter of this year, equating to about 7,200 fewer employees. In June, the company confirmed it had offered a voluntary separation program to most employees.
- AmeriHealth Caritas is closing its Orlando, Fla.-based specialty pharmacy, PerformSpecialty, by the end of the year, leading to the elimination of 61 positions. The closure is part of a broader wind-down of PerformRx, the company’s in-house pharmacy benefit manager.
- Provider Partners Health Plans is laying off a total of 161 employees in Texas, Maryland and Illinois.
- PacificSource is laying off a total of 231 employees this year across Oregon following the company’s decision to exit Montana and the individual market in 2027, along with “rightsizing in the Oregon market.” Last year, the insurer laid off roughly 300 employees.
- UCare has been winding down operations in 2026 and sold assets to Medica, a move that affected roughly 250 employees in early January. On Aug. 3, the insurer said it was laying off 102 employees in Minnesota. The company’s exit from the Medicare Advantage market last year impacted 9% of its workforce, and it also laid off 80 employees, or around 5% of its workforce, last September.
- Elevance Health laid off 85 employees in Washington, D.C. as part of its move to exit the district’s Medicaid managed care program. The company will also lay off 216 employees in Louisiana by the end of 2026 as part of the wind-down of its Medicaid business in the state.
- BCBS North Dakota laid off 45 employees in May amid its integration with Cambia Health Solutions.
- Arkansas BCBS said in May it cut about 30 positions recently. In December 2025, the insurer said it was offering “an early-out option to eligible employees” due to budget constraints.
- Molina Healthcare laid off 156 employees at its headquarters in Long Beach, Calif. in April. The company also laid off 268 employees last year after a contract loss in Virginia.
- Point32Health, the parent company of Harvard Pilgrim Health Care and Tufts Health Plan, said in March that it laid off approximately 100 employees, or 2.3% of its workforce. The company previously laid off more than 360 employees in 2025.
- Aetna cut 313 positions within its small group business this year. The company also laid off 72 remote employees between Dec. 2025 and March 2026 after it was not selected for a new contract to support beneficiaries dually eligible for Medicare and Medicaid in Ohio.
- Horizon BCBS New Jersey laid off 242 employees amid broader restructuring efforts at the company, effective in April. Combined with “other targeted actions in 2025,” Horizon laid off about 8% of its workforce.
- L.A. Care Health Plan laid off 225 employees in March amid organizational restructuring driven by Medi-Cal budget reductions.
- Blue Cross of Idaho said in January it implemented “organizational changes” to boost efficiency and lower costs, affecting fewer than 90 roles.
- Optum has laid off 630 workers across New Jersey throughout 2026, along with 92 employees in California and 98 employees in Illinois.
- MDwise, part of Grand Blanc, Mich.-based McLaren Health Care, laid off 238 employees in January and closed its office in Indianapolis, according to regulatory documents filed in November 2025.
