Tampa insurance agency e-Telequote cuts 218 jobs

Tampa-based e-Telequote Insurance, which was bought by a Chicago company late last year, is laying off 218 employees.

The online insurance agency announced the job cuts in a letter Monday to city and state officials. The letter and the layoff notice appeared Wednesday morning on Florida’s Worker Adjustment Retraining and Notification database.

The cuts are its headquarters office at 12750 Citrus Park Lane and run the gamut from 54 insurance agents to e-Telequote's president.

The agency also has an office in Lahore, Pakistan.

The company does not give a reason for the cuts in the letter, nor did it respond to questions Wednesday morning.

The company, which sells Medicare insurance nationwide, was bought in October by GoHealth Inc. which describes itself as health insurance marketplace and Medicare-focused digital health company.

According to an Oct. 1 statement detailing the transaction issued shortly after the deal closed, GoHealth agreed to buy an 18.9% interest in the Tampa agency August 30. A month later, on Sept. 30, GoHealth invested $5 million in newly issued shares of e-Telequote to close the deal.

“Concurrently, e-Telequote’s previous owner relinquished its 81.1% ownership interest thereby relinquishing its rights in the company,” the statement says.

“As a result, GoHealth became the sole owner of e-Telequote, including all its assets, inclusive of the $5 million paid to e-Telequote at the time of the transaction closing.”

The plan, according to the October statement, was for e-Telequote to remain an independent agency.

According to the letter sent to the state to meet federal requirements, the layoffs will begin April 4 and will be permanent.