More than 600 workers will lose their jobs as the largest health insurer in central and southern Illinois ceases operations.
The news comes after Carle Health recently announced that Health Alliance will stop providing all types of coverage at the end of the year.
According to the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity [DCEO], which requires employers to submit prior notification for mass layoffs, Champaign-based Health Alliance will eliminate all 612 jobs.
The layoffs are scheduled to begin on July 8 and continue through October 2026.
“Our decision to exit the insurance market comes at a time when market dynamics and plan designs have made it increasingly difficult for provider-owned health plans to remain sustainable,” Carle Health president and chief executive officer Jim Leonard said in a news release.
Carle Health first announced in February it was ending nearly all of Health Alliance’s insurance. At the time, Leonard said Health Alliance and FirstCarolinaCare [a nonprofit subsidiary of Carle Health and FirstHealth of North Carolina] struggled to “achieve operational and financial efficiency” due to a number of factors, including inflation, rising prescription drug costs, increased use of healthcare services, higher volumes of chronic medical conditions and increased demand for technology.
Carle Health said Health Alliance will continue the coverage through the end of the year, to give its members time to find coverage elsewhere.
