Updated: Friday, July 26 at 11:05 a.m. ET
Optum officially laid off 524 workers in California, according to WARN Act filings submitted to the state July 18.
Throughout the state, 15 locations are closing. The addresses associated with the WARN filings show layoffs at Optum Infusion Services, urgent care locations and primary and specialty care clinics.
Of those 524 workers, 161 are telecommuters, a notice obtained by Fierce Healthcare shows. Layoffs will take place in eight waves starting in September and concluding in January.
The most layoffs occurred at a Landmark Health office in Cerritos, California with 157 workers impacted, but the majority of those employees were remote workers. In Optum’s corporate office, 64 workers were laid off.
None of the workers are recognized by a union.
Job titles include nurse practitioners, medical assistants, radiology technicians, registered nurses, patient care coordinators and licensed practical nurses. Many of the telecommuters are care coordinators or behavioral health clinicians.
Updated: July 23
The extent of Optum’s most recent layoffs is becoming clearer.
Due to the ongoing changes, Optum is restricting the number of home-based medical care visits and limiting the number of patients Landmark will serve, according to materials obtained by Fierce Healthcare.
They also show a contract with WellMed Houston will be discontinued Aug. 1.
Multiple sources believe more than 2,000 employees were impacted, though that figure is unconfirmed. Social work, behavioral health services and local outreach workers have been cut in many states. And several employees expressed concern Optum will continue layoffs at Landmark until the business is dissolved completely and all patients are tapered off the services.
“It’s becoming more and more apparent to me that they are really shutting Landmark down,” one former employee told Fierce Healthcare.
In materials reviewed by Fierce Healthcare, Optum says the company's at-home medical care services have become too broad.
“Currently, our ability to demonstrate value is diluted by a large number of stable and relatively healthy patients,” the company said. “By centering our skills and resources on the sickest, most medically complex and frail patients, we will provide the greatest impact on those with the greatest need.”
In its second-quarter earnings call, UnitedHealth Group CEO Andrew Witty said its workers made 2.5 million home visits last year and identified 300,000 seniors with emerging health needs that were previously undiagnosed.
Starting Aug. 15, home-based visits will end in metro markets most impacted by the recent round of layoffs and strategic shift. Support services will be offered for these patients until the end of the year, and patients without a primary care physician will be recommended one.
Landmark now serves the top 5% of patients with clinical acuity, instead of the previous top 10% of patients. The 18 metro areas are closing, as reported last week, because these locations are deemed financially not viable at this new threshold. Nearly 60 other metro areas will remain open.
Many metropolitan areas have been gutted of talent, with WARN notices going out to employees in numerous states.
“We continually review the capabilities and services we offer to meet the growing and evolving needs of our businesses and the people we serve," an Optum spokesperson told Fierce Healthcare in a statement. "As always, we will support affected team members with job placement resources and seek to deploy them where possible to any open roles within the company.”
Optum said there are more than 20,000 job openings listed on the UnitedHealth Group website.
Updated: July 18
The sprawling enterprise that is UnitedHealth Group is undergoing more layoffs under its Optum umbrella.
Landmark Health, a medical care division, will experience a sizable portion of the cuts and is leaving 18 metropolitan markets, according to several employees granted anonymity to discuss the layoffs. The markets span the entire country and include locations in Arizona, California, Florida, Indiana, Maine, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia. Patients in these regions are beginning to be transitioned to other UnitedHealthcare companies.
At least 100 licensed social workers have been dismissed nationwide, one source said on background, though it appears that number is likely understated. Behavioral healthcare managers and social work managers were also impacted.
Workers at OptumInsight subsidiary Episource, a provider of risk adjustment services and software for plans and providers, were also impacted, as were workers at WellMed Medical Management, a healthcare delivery company in Florida, New Mexico and Texas.
Episource, a California-based company, was quietly acquired by Optum. Various state filings from 2023 show Episource within OptumInsights.
Two WellMed offices are closed, Florida NBC affiliate WFLA reported Thursday. Some of those patients, and their accompanying medical information, will be transferred to a nearby Optum clinic in August.
July 18 is a day many employees had marked on their calendar as they suspected another round of layoffs were likely, employees had previously told Fierce Healthcare. Social media posts indicate health services managers, medical coders and case managers are among other positions Optum eliminated in the cuts.
On Tuesday, UnitedHealth Group posted a quarterly profit of $4.2 billion and reaffirmed its yearly guidance. The company’s quarterly revenue reached nearly $100 billion in the second quarter alone. Execs on the earnings call said the company plans to sell its remaining businesses in South America.
Revenues at Optum Health were up 13% year-over-year, and Optum recorded $62.9 billion in revenue.
Optum previously laid off hundreds of employees this year, as reported by Fierce Healthcare. Like the first quarter, Optum scheduled its layoffs to occur just days after its earnings call.
The healthcare giant discontinued its virtual care division, eliminated more than a hundred jobs at Optum Home & Community Care and downsized its Landmark Health divisions in every state, laying off at least 370 employees nationwide. Optum later closed a facility in Toledo, Ohio, affecting 129 employees, according to a WARN Act filing.
Episource co-CEO Harshith Ramesh and Optum have not responded to a request for comment.
This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.