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 July 31 and will continue to be updated this year.
- Elevance Health is laying off 85 employees in Washington, D.C. as part of its move to exit the district’s Medicaid managed care program.
- Centene said June 15 it is offering a voluntary separation program to most of its 61,000 employees.
- PacificSource is laying off 97 employees by the end of July following the company’s decision to exit Montana and the individual market in 2027, along with “rightsizing in the Oregon market.”
- 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.
- Blue Shield of California laid off 69 employees again across the state in June after laying off 69 employees in March. The insurer cut more than 400 jobs across multiple rounds of layoffs last year.
- 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.
- Cigna cut approximately 2,000 jobs globally at the end of February, representing about 3% of its workforce.
- Aetna is cutting 313 positions within its small group business before the end of July. 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.
- UCare is winding down operations in 2026 and selling assets to Medica, a move that affected roughly 250 employees in early January. 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, in September.
At the Becker's 5th Annual Fall Payer Issues Roundtable, taking place November 2–3 in Chicago, payer executives and healthcare leaders will come together to discuss value-based care, regulatory changes, cost management strategies and innovations shaping the future of payer-provider collaboration. Apply for complimentary registration now.