Wilmington-based Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield of Delaware, the largest health insurance provider in the state, laid off 12 employees this week, according to Delawareonline.com.
Highmark has approximately 397,000 customers and 600 employees statewide. The laid off employees worked in the mail room, claims processing area, enrollment and billing departments.
The layoffs were made in an "effort to align the right people with the right jobs to serve our customers and streamline our operations," according to Highmark spokesman Matt Stehl.
The conditions of the 2011 merger between Blue Cross Blue Shield of Delaware and Pittsburgh-based Highmark guaranteed Highmark would maintain employment levels in Delaware proportionate to those it maintains in other geographic areas.
Mr. Stehl said the recent layoffs don't violate the merger conditions because Highmark added over 100 jobs last year as part of its expansion of its Medicaid portfolio.