Bossier Parish committee recommends higher liability retention to cut premiums; approves vendor selections, audits and phased benefit changes

The Bossier Parish School Board—ommittee on insurance on Sept. 20 reviewed and recommended a package of insurance renewals and plan changes, including a recommendation to accept a $300,000 self‑insured retention (SIR) option for the district nd to refer that recommendation to the full board.

Doug Rogers, principal with Risk Pros Inc., presented the liability package renewal and recommended the $300,000 SIR option, saying the district can reduce premium costs by retaining more low-end exposure and giving administrators greater control over early claim handling. "The least expensive claim is the one that is dealt with quickly," Rogers said, arguing that raising the SIR by $100,000 would produce nearly $200,000 in premium savings under the proposal before the committee.

The package Rogers described includes commercial auto liability, general liability (including employee benefits liability and incidental law enforcement liability), errors-and-omissions liability (including employment-practices coverage), and abuse/molestation liability. Rogers said the committee lready pays reporting duties tied to a percentage of the chosen SIR (he said the insurer-reporting duty is set at 50% of the SIR in the proposal). He also told the committee the district has averaged fewer than one severe claim per year over the past five years, a data point he used to support accepting higher retention to harvest upfront premium savings that would cover multiple years of claim exposure.

Committee discussion included questions about how premium savings are realized and whether the savings are guaranteed; Rogers said the premium savings are realized immediately if the committee accepts the higher SIR but cautioned that claim costs develop over multiple budget years. After discussion the committee voted to recommend approval of the liability package renewal to the full board; the committee recorded one opposing vote on the recommendation (the transcript does not identify the opposing member by name).

The committee also considered and approved a separate request for a formal resolution to authorize the district chief financial officer to reject uninsured/underinsured motorist bodily injury and property damage coverage for the district utomobile policy. The motion, as read into the record, authorized Nisha Bamberg, chief financial officer, to sign the resolution rejecting uninsured/underinsured motorist bodily injury and property damage coverage. The motion text in the transcript contained a conflicting policy‑period date; the committee recorded the motion and approved it unanimously for referral to the board. (The transcript text showed the policy‑period date as written incorrectly; the committee did not specify a corrected date in the meeting record.)

The committee approved a one‑year renewal of auto physical damage coverage required under the district's lease with Red River Motor Company to insure driver-education vehicles; the committee noted district‑owned vehicles not covered by leases remain self‑insured for physical damage.

On retiree prescription benefits, Jason Allman of the Allman Group presented results from a competitive bid process for the Employer Group Waiver Program (EGWP / AWIP) that provides Medicare Part D coverage for retirees. Bids were received from Express Scripts, AmWINS (Retiree Rx Care), and SilverScript/CVS Caremark; OptumRx declined because the district did not meet OptumRx minimum size requirement (Allman said that minimum was 2,500 participants). Allman said Express Scripts offered full pass-through of rebates and manufacturer assistance and, after contract concessions, his recommendation was to continue with Express Scripts as the least disruptive option for members. The committee voted unanimously to recommend the vendor selection to the board.

Nisha Bamberg, chief financial officer, requested approval to run a dependent eligibility audit beginning in January 2026. Bamberg said the district has conducted two prior audits; each previously produced roughly $200,000 in annual savings by removing ineligible dependents (commonly the result of divorce or separation). She described the audit vendor's online submission portal and the audit timeline: start after the district's open-enrollment period, deploy notices and follow-up communications, escalate nonresponsive cases, and remove ineligible dependents after the company and the district determine noncompliance. The committee approved the audit recommendation unanimously.

Bamberg also presented a benefit modification plan to improve long-term plan sustainability by incrementally increasing individual deductibles and out-of-pocket maximums over four years rather than taking a single large increase. The proposed four-year plan would increase the individual deductible about $500 and the family out-of-pocket maximum about $1,000 overall; the committee was asked to approve the first-year step: a $125 increase to the individual deductible and a $250 increase to the out-of-pocket maximum for the first year. Bamberg said the committee estimates the first-year step would save about $600,000 based on last year—laims. Committee members expressed concern for employees and retirees and were told any further steps would be evaluated yearly rather than being automatic. The committee approved the first-year step unanimously.

Votes at a glance: the committee voted to recommend the liability package renewal (recommended to full board; committee recorded one opposing vote, opposing member not identified in the transcript); approved a resolution to authorize the CFO to reject uninsured/underinsured motorist bodily injury and property damage coverage (unanimous, motion recorded for referral to the board); approved one‑year renewal of auto physical damage coverage for driver‑education vehicles required by the Red River Motor Company lease (unanimous); recommended Express Scripts for the EGWP retiree prescription contract (unanimous); approved a dependent eligibility audit to begin January 2026 (unanimous); and approved the first‑year step of a four‑year benefit modification plan (unanimous).

Why it matters: the committee ctions move several insurance and benefits decisions closer to final board approval. The liability‑retention decision proposed a tradeoff: higher near‑term exposure in return for lower annual premiums. The vendor selection and audit decisions affect retiree prescription coverage and plan cost control; the four‑year benefit plan initiates a multi‑year change that district employees and retirees will feel gradually.

What comes next: the committee forwarded its recommendations to the full Bossier Parish School Board for final action, and the dependent audit was set to begin in January 2026 pending the board's approvals and vendor engagement.