California dental insurer cutting Tampa jobs

Liberty Dental, a national dental insurance company, is laying off 30 employees in Tampa and 65 elsewhere as it moves to a third-party for operations.

The company announced the cuts in a letter to the state and Tampa Mayor Jane Castor posted to the state’s Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act database.

The federally mandated letter says the cuts are for employees at Liberty Dental Plan Corp. and its Florida operating entity Liberty Dental Plan of Florida at the company’s Tampa office at 3109 W. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.

Liberty says in the letter that of the 95 employees losing their jobs, 30 are based in Florida. It is unclear in the letter if the remaining 65 are remote workers or if they work in other offices.

The Liberty executive listed as the contact person in the letter did not respond to questions early Friday.

The cuts are permanent and expected to happen April 6.

Tustin, California-based Liberty Dental is a national dental insurance provider founded in 2002.

According to its website, its Florida division it is one of three plans to directly administer to state Medicaid and Medicare programs. It also sells to individuals through the Federal Healthcare Exchange for Florida and the Florida Health Choices Health Insurance Marketplace.