80 Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Montana workers facing layoffs

Eighty Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Montana employees in Helena and Great Falls will lose their jobs in the coming months because a federal agency awarded a Medicare-claims processing contract for a six-state region to a North Dakota company.

The layoffs are not a surprise because of a 2003 federal law that required claims to be handled in multi-state regions to save money. Claims are now processed separately by state.

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Montana (BCBSMT) did not bid on the project because “we didn’t have the infrastructure to take on a regional contract,’’ company spokeswoman Linda McGillen said Tuesday.

Affected are 53 Blue Cross employees based in Helena and 27 in Great Falls, said Mike Wagner, vice president of government programs for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Montana. He is among them and will retire after 30 years with the company.

BCBSMT now has about 700 employees working in all lines of its health insurance business.

By CHARLES S. JOHNSON – IR State Bureau

Full Story: http://www.helenair.com/articles/2006/08/02/montana/a01080206_02.txt