KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Lee’s Summit-based Government Employees Health Association (GEHA) told Missouri officials last Friday it is planning to outsource certain business functions leading to the layoff of more than 450 employees.
In the filing, the company said it had made “a strategic business decision” it says will “modernize” its business model by contracting with United Medical Resources (UMR) to provide “customized third-party administrator services.”
Employees working at the company’s locations at 310 NE Mulberry St., 200 NE NE Mulberry Street, 201 NE Mulberry St., and 1650 NE Grand Ave. in Lee’s Summit are included in the layoffs, which will occur in two phases.
The company said the first phase is anticipated to begin around Dec. 31, 2024, with the second phase anticipated in late March or early April 2025.
“In connection with our new vendor partnership with UMR, GEHA will outsource to UMR select business functions for optimization and scale, while other business functions will remain at GEHA,” GEHA corporate communications representative Raj Vavilala wrote in the filing.
GEHA provides health and dental benefits to more than two million federal and postal service employees, annuitants, military retirees and their families.
The company provided the following statement Tuesday to KSHB 41:
"As announced in 2023, G.E.H.A made the strategic business decision to partner with UMR, a third-party vendor, for the delivery of certain business operations at G.E.H.A. Implementation efforts began at the end of 2023, with operations transitioning to UMR from January 2025. Affected employees were provided advance notice of any potential impact out of an abundance of respect for them. G.E.H.A affected employees will have the opportunity to apply for open positions at either G.E.H.A or UMR or receive severance packages to support them during this transition."
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