Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Caddo Parish committee backs insurance changes to curb rising costs; retirees express concern
Summary
The Caddo Parish School Board Insurance & Finance Committee voted unanimously to recommend a package of changes — including a 7.5% premium increase for self‑funded plans, mandatory Medicare enrollment for eligible retirees/spouses, a $100 specialty drug copay and a rise in ER copay to $250 — after staff warned of rapidly rising medical and prescription costs.
The Caddo Parish School Board Insurance & Finance Committee on Nov. 11 voted unanimously to recommend a set of changes to employee and retiree health coverage aimed at addressing rapidly rising medical and prescription costs.
Lillian Hooper, director of insurance for the system, told the committee that specialty prescriptions and a few very high‑cost claimants have driven steep increases. "Caddo, in the past 12 months, we have 958 members using GLP‑1 medications costing $8,400,000 — that's 16% of the total Rx claims," Hooper said, and added that specialty medications make up roughly 2% of prescriptions but about 46% of prescription spending.
Hooper and staff presented financial projections showing the plan’s current funding at $107,000,000 for the 2025–26 plan year and a…
Already have an account? Log in
Subscribe to keep reading
Unlock the rest of this article — and every article on Citizen Portal.
- Unlimited articles
- AI-powered breakdowns of topics, speakers, decisions, and budgets
- Instant alerts when your location has a new meeting
- Follow topics and more locations
- 1,000 AI Insights / month, plus AI Chat
