BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — The health insurance program that covers Louisiana state workers and public school teachers is expected to spend $7 million more a month than it receives during this budget year.
The nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Office told lawmakers Friday that the “negative burn rate” continues even after premium hikes, service reductions and higher deductibles being put in place by Gov. Bobby Jindal’s administration.
The insurance program is operated through the Office of Group Benefits. It covers 230,000 current workers, retirees and their dependents.
The Jindal administration is making a series of plan changes to stem the financial troubles of the insurance program and address the rising costs of health care. But members of the insurance program have inundated lawmakers with criticism of the changes and charges of mismanagement of the program.
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