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Home > BizTimes Daily > Archives > August 20, 2010
Assurant Health to eliminate 130 jobs
Published August 20, 2010 - BizTimes Daily
Milwaukee-based Assurant Health, a health insurance provider and a division of New York-based Assurant Inc., announced that it plans to eliminate 130 jobs, including 89 in Milwaukee, as of Oct. 1.
Assurant Health president and chief executive officer Don Hamm said the job reductions are necessary to streamline its operations to position the company to do business as the federal government is reforming the health care insurance industry.
“While it always is a tough decision to eliminate jobs, the health insurance industry is undergoing unprecedented change that requires our company to adapt and transform,” Hamm said. “We are reshaping our organization so that customers in the post-reform marketplace can continue to rely on Assurant Health for access to affordable, quality medical insurance as they have for more than 115 years.”
President Barack Obama signed the federal health care reform bill in March.
During the second quarter, Assurant Inc. completed an extensive review of its health business and considered several possible future strategies for that business, said Rob Pollock, president and chief executive officer of Assurant Inc.
“Three critical themes emerged from our work,” Pollock said in remarks to investors last month. “First, we believe there is a significant opportunity in the individual medical marketplace. Second, although the dynamics and characteristics of the post-reform market are different, they will still require specialty expertise. And third, we believe we can earn attractive returns in the business over the long term without making large commitments of corporate capital. With the approval of our board we are moving forward with our comprehensive business plan to position ourselves for what we believe the future will be.”
The latest job cuts at Assurant Health are in addition to job cuts the company made in November, when it eliminated 94 jobs, including 61 in Milwaukee and 33 at other locations throughout the country. The company now has 2,069 employees.
