Premera Blue Cross has eliminated 33 positions in its Spokane operation as part of a larger restructuring in which the Mountlake Terrace, Wash-based health plan provider has confirmed the layoff of 165 employees in all. 

Tom Messick, vice president and general manager for Premera’s operation here, says some of those employees whose positions were eliminated have been able to move into other positions within the company.

 “There were, for example, people who were in our sales department that were able to secure positions in customer service,” he says. “Others may still be working through the application process.” 

Messick says the company had about 660 employees here at the end of last year and has hired another seven this year. Although he didn’t have information on how many open positions Premera currently has here, he says it has 118 job openings overall. 

“There is a misconception that our office here is just a small service center, or sales office, when we are in fact a large, fully functioning component with over 100 different job titles,” he says. 

Messick says he expects the company will continue to maintain a strong workforce here, as its membership also continues to grow. 

“We expect customer growth, and hope to continue to assimilate that growth with our existing workforce,” he says. “Health care is still a dynamic industry right now, so I don’t expect significant increases. However, the company is clearly very invested in Spokane and values this area’s recruiting pool for talent.” 

Melanie Coon, Mountlake Terrace-based spokeswoman for the company, says the recent layoffs were part of a strategic reorganization effort and not the result of financial losses. The company, though, reported a sharp decline in its net income for last year, as earnings fell to $13 million, down from $66 million in 2014. 

Premera reported total 2015 revenue of $3.7 billion in Washington and Alaska, up from $3.3 billion a year earlier.

The company continues to experience steady gain in membership, growing to just over 2 million members at the end of last year from 1.9 million members a year earlier. 

Coon says the decrease in net income is  partly a reflection of challenges in servicing the individual health-insurance market, a difficulty health care providers are struggling with nationwide. 

She says one of the bigger challenges lies in newly enrolled members taking advantage of special enrollment periods to only enroll in coverage when they need care. 

A report conducted in March by the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association indicated newly enrolled members also receive more care on average, use more medical services across all sites of care, and have higher medical costs and higher rates of certain diseases. 

 “We continue to look at ways to improve outcomes, taking better care of our members, helping them to navigate the system and better understand their plans,” says Coon. 

Along with its headquarters in Mountlake Terrace, Premera has operations in Seattle, Spokane, and Anchorage. It serves businesses and residents of Alaska, Oregon, and Washington State, excluding Clark County.