Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield of Delaware laid off 12 employees this week, the company confirmed Thursday. The health insurance provider, which employs more than 600 workers in the state, cut employees in the mail room, claims processing area, enrollment and billing departments. Delaware's largest health insurance provider, Highmark has about 397,000 customers statewide, or roughly 85 percent of residents with insurance. Highmark spokesman Matt Stehl said the layoffs were made in an "effort to align the right people with the right jobs to serve our customers and streamline our operations." As positions were eliminated, the responsibilities associated with those jobs were absorbed elsewhere in the company, Stehl said. For example, the mail room positions were consolidated in Highmark's Camp Hill, Pennsylvania, operations center. "There was no need for redundant functions in Wilmington," Stehl said.