Aetna cuts 60 workers in Blue Bell today, 1,350 in U.S. by March

Aetna Inc. is cutting 60 workers at its Blue Bell office, part of layoffs totaling 625 U.S. workers today, spokesman Fred Laberge told me. Cuts are "across the board" in different departments, he said. The big health insurer plans to cut another 625 in early 2010, including an unknown number in Pa.

Aetna employs around 4,800 in Blue Bell at the former US Healthcare headquarters, and at other sites in Pennsylvania; 7,600 at its Hartford-area headquarters in Connecticut; and a total of 35,500 nationwide.

The cuts follow 530 buyouts at Independence Blue Cross and its affiliates in Philadelphia. IBC says the departures were voluntary, but workers have told me some didn't want to go.

Tough times for private health insurers. Reuters says they're among the losers if the Senate version of health care reform gets passed as written. Others who'll lose include drug distributors like AmerisourceBergen, based in Chesterbrook, which will have to disclose client discounts. Winners include drugmakers and hospitals, mostly because they're not being forced to give up as much as it looked like earlier, plus they'll gain new customers.