QuickTake:

As the Springfield-based insurer wraps up its role in providing Medicaid coverage for Lane County residents, the insurer has notified the state that it intends to lay off 56 employees who work at its Springfield site.

Clarification: This story has been updated with new information from PacificSource on Saturday, Oct. 18. The company says the layoffs are not related to its decision stop providing Medicaid coverage in Lane County.

PacificSource is preparing to lay off 56 Springfield-based employees as it unwinds its work providing Medicaid coverage for Lane County residents, according to a public notice the company filed with the state.

The layoffs will take effect Dec. 31, and are a permanent reduction of the company’s workforce, PacificSource said in its notice. The company told Lookout Eugene-Springfield the layoffs are unrelated to its exit from providing Medicaid coverage in Lane County.

The layoffs will affect employees that include claims representatives, team leaders, analysts and clerks, the notice said.

The move comes after PacificSource told the Oregon Health Authority it no longer plans to contract with the state to cover Lane County residents on the Medicaid-funded Oregon Health Plan, citing rising costs.

PacificSource covers about 92,000 Lane County residents on the Oregon Health Plan through PacificSource Community Solutions, a coordinated care organization.

Trillium, another insurer, covers about 30,000 county residents who are on the Oregon Health Plan. The Oregon Health Authority has announced Trillium will absorb the patients who now rely on PacificSource for their Medicaid coverage.

The PacificSource notice was published Friday by the state’s Higher Education Coordinating Commission, but it is dated Sept. 19, one day after the coordinated care organization notified the health authority that it intended to end its Lane County Medicaid coverage residents on Jan. 1.

Since the notice was filed, the Oregon Health Authority has asked PacificSource to handle Medicaid coverage for Lane County residents for another month through the end of January.

The company and authority have not confirmed that this will indeed happen.

A spokesperson for PacificSource didn’t answer questions about layoffs related to its exit from Medicaid in Lane County in a statement Friday.

“We are committed to making this change as smooth as possible for our members, employer customers, and brokers,” PacificSource said. “By providing early notice, we hope to give affected employees extra time to prepare for their next steps. We are deeply grateful for their contributions and are offering resources and support to help them through this transition.”

PacificSource will continue to provide Medicaid coverage in other parts of Oregon. 

This story was updated at 4:03 p.m. Friday, Oct. 17, 2025 with a statement from PacificSource.

Ben Botkin covers politics and policy in Lane County. He has worked as a journalist since 2003, most recently at the Oregon Capital Chronicle, where he covered justice, health and human services and documented regional efforts to combat fentanyl addiction. Botkin has worked in statehouses in Idaho, Nevada, Oklahoma and, of course, Oregon. When he's not working, you'll find him road tripping across the West, hiking or surfing along the Oregon Coast.