Denver Health to cut 300 jobs as Anthem adds 300

A major healthcare provider in the Denver area announced it was eliminating 300 jobs, but then a major healthcare payer announced it was adding an equal number of new positions.

Denver Health announced this week it would eliminate 300 jobs in an effort to save $18 million over 12 months. On July 18, just as the dust was settling, Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in Colorado said it was adding 300 jobs at its Denver office “as part of a comprehensive effort to support its growing business.”

“These are important jobs with solid benefits and many of the new positions will be specifically focused on helping our customers better navigate the changes in the healthcare system,” Mike Raseier, president of the Anthem Blues in Colorado, said in a news release.

Denver Health spokeswoman Julie Lonborg cited changes in the healthcare system as part of the reason for the job cuts—specifically, the migration of patients from inpatient status to observation status under the new CMS short-stay policy. She said the CMS policy has resulted in a $2.2 million annual loss for her organization.

Anthem already has more than 1,700 people working in Colorado providing service to almost 1 million health plan members, and the news release said the new positions will include entry-level jobs and managerial posts for customer service, training and other operations.

Denver Health, the safety net system for Colorado, has a 5,700-person workforce. Lonborg said the system was seeking to avoid layoffs and was looking to shed most of the 300 jobs through attrition. She noted that the system currently has 285 open positions.

But it's not clear if it will fill all those positions. “We'll ask, 'In a different healthcare world, will we still need someone in that position?' ” Lonborg said.

Follow Andis Robeznieks on Twitter: @MHARobeznieks