Molina Healthcare, the Long Beach-based Medicaid and Medicare managed care company, filed a WARN Act notice covering 156 employees at its headquarters, with layoffs effective April 5, 2026. The LA Business Journal reported the cuts as affecting "nearly 170" workers at the HQ location, consistent with the WARN filing. No specific reason was given for this round of cuts.
Molina employs approximately 17,000 people across the country and operates health plans in more than a dozen states, serving Medicaid, Medicare, and Marketplace insurance markets. The Long Beach HQ cut is the latest in a series of workforce reductions over the past 18 months.
Molina is one of the largest pure-play Medicaid managed care companies in the country. Its layoffs are a bellwether for the sector. The company lost a major contract in Virginia in 2025 and closed its Henrico office, cutting 268 workers. Now the HQ is shedding headcount -- a signal that operational consolidation is spreading beyond specific state contract losses to the corporate structure itself.
The broader healthcare payer sector is under serious cost pressure in 2026. Horizon BCBS NJ cut 242 jobs in January citing "unprecedented" medical cost increases. L.A. Care cut 225 in March. CVS Health and Aetna have also been reducing staff. The pattern is consistent: higher-than-expected medical utilization is compressing margins across the board, and payers are cutting overhead to compensate.