Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota laid off approximately 80 staffers last week as part of an ongoing review of its business operations.

"In order to place the company in the best position to deliver on our strategic priorities, we have made the challenging but necessary step of reducing approximately 80 positions, most of which are in our operations division," Jim McManus, a spokesman for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota, said in a statement.

The job cuts were announced Thursday.

The nonprofit health insurer "continually evaluates our administrative costs, staffing structure and capabilities," McManus said.

It had about 3,000 employees by latest count.

"Many [laid-off employees] may be eligible to apply for new roles within the company, as we are currently in the process of adding 300 new roles in support of our Medicaid business," McManus said.

The nonprofit is adding those jobs back in-house after it had a series of problems when it outsourced work on its Medicaid and related state public health programs. The company was fined $13.5 million under eight corrective actions issued by the Minnesota Department of Human Services between 2018 and 2020.

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota has periodically had layoffs on a similar scale to the latest cuts in recent years.

In 2019, it laid off 100 employees in Eagan and the Iron Range. In 2017, it cut 50 jobs connected to its decision to outsource management of behavioral health.