Dean Health Plan is a subsidiary of Minnesota-based Medica. A spokesperson told Becker’s Feb. 2 that the nonprofit insurer laid off 162 employees across the organization.
“We made the difficult decision to reduce our workforce to align our resources with business priorities. Our commitment to high-quality, affordable health care for our members includes how we staff our health plan to best deliver on this commitment,” the Medica statement said.
The Dean Health Plan employee was arrested for “disorderly conduct and making terrorist threats,” according to a Feb. 1 report from the city’s police department.
The health plan’s campus in Madison was closed Feb. 1 following the threats, a spokesperson told ABC affiliate WKOW.
“The safety of our employees is our top priority and we have shut access off to all buildings on campus. All employees and contractors have safely evacuated the campus,” the spokesperson said.
Medica offers Medicaid, Medicare, individual and commercial insurance and has around 1.5 million members.
Several payers have announced layoffs in 2024. In January, Blue Shield of California said it would lay off 140 employees, and Humana said it would lay off a “small portion” of its workforce. Kaiser Permanente laid off 79 administrative employees in the first weeks of 2024.
Medica is providing affected employees with severance payments, outplacement services and other benefits, the spokesperson said.
