Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Missouri will close its Cape Girardeau office in late May, and 150 of its approximately 175 employees will work from home.

Company officials made the announcement Thursday, less than a year after eliminating 125 workers at the Cape Girardeau office last April.

"Today we told our associates in our Cape Girardeau office that the majority of them will transition to work-at-home employees," said Deborah Wiethop, Anthem public relations director. "When all is said and done, we hope by end of May we should have about 150 Cape employees working at home."

Downsizing its Cape Girardeau office will help the company reduce overhead operating costs, including building lease and utility payments, she said.

Starting in January, insurance companies must spend 85 percent of premiums they collect on health services or provide customers a rebate, according to federal health care reform passed last year.

"We're really looking at anywhere we can save administrative costs. When we can reduce those, it's very helpful," Wiethop said. "Keeping health care benefits affordable is an ongoing concern we have and something we look at continuously."

She said the company will look for a smaller space to operate in Cape Girardeau.

"In that office we would have sales, account management, provider network management and meeting rooms," Wiethop said.

Technology improvements over the past decade make work-at-home employment possible, she said. Anthem will provide phones, computers and training assistance as its employees make the transition to working from home. Those employees currently work in the company's service operations, claims, billing departments, Wiethop said.

"The great majority will still have their jobs, just at home," Wiethop said.

Some administrative positions will be eliminated and some employees may choose to retire rather than work from home, she said.

Anthem has operated out of its existing Cape Girardeau office at 471 Siemers Drive since the late 1990s. Last April, Anthem laid off 40 percent of its 316-person work force, citing a 3.9 percent drop in its membership during 2009. Last year, membership dropped about 1 percent nationwide but increased slightly in Missouri, Wiethop said.

mmiller@semissourian.com

388-3646

Pertinent address:

471 Siemers Drive, Cape Girardeau, MO