Premera Blue Cross is cutting about 285 positions, or roughly 8 percent of its workforce, due to the economic effects of COVID-19, according to My Edmonds News.
Premera framed the job reductions as necessary to keep healthcare affordable by reducing costs and passing savings on to its members. Dani Chung, a spokesperson for the health insurer, said in a news release cited by My Edmonds News that "while Premera remains strong financially, we recognize the tremendous toll the global pandemic has taken on the economy and many of our group and individual customers."
Premera said the jobs being eliminated aren't customer-facing positions. Premera has 3,442 employees, according to the report.
Read more here.