Lafayette Parish committee reviews Gallagher report as district eyes cost-saving health plan options

The Lafayette Parish School Board Insurance & Finance Committee reviewed a Gallagher presentation on May 6 that outlined current plan performance, cost-containment initiatives and timelines for market checks as the district confronts a projected roughly $70 million health plan cost for fiscal 2025-26.

Gallagher consultants told the committee that the plan's projected medical and pharmacy outlay for 2025-26 is about $70,000,000 and that implemented programs effective Jan. 1, 2025, are already reducing the rolling 12-month per-member-per-month trend. "Our projected number is the red number here of 69,995 or the 70,000,000 for next year," a Gallagher presenter said during the slide review.

Why it matters: the committee heard that the district currently funds around $57 million of premiums and uses about $6.6 million from the general fund; Gallagher and district administrators said additional funding in the range of several million dollars may be needed if market changes do not produce savings. Committee members repeatedly emphasized they want to avoid large across-the-board premium increases. "We're not gonna support a 25, 30 percent increase in premiums across the board. We're not gonna do that," the committee chair said during the meeting.

What Gallagher presented: consultants described point solutions and broader market checks the district is pursuing, including: - Third-party administrator (TPA) market checks to evaluate administrative platforms, selective networks and…