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Bossier Parish committee approves Stelara biosimilar for group health plan
Summary
The Bossier Parish insurance committee approved adding a Stelara biosimilar to the group insurance formulary effective Jan. 1, 2026, with staff estimating roughly $210,000 in annual savings based on current prescription counts.
The Bossier Parish insurance committee voted Dec. 4 to approve adding a Stelara biosimilar to the parish group health plan, a change staff said will take effect Jan. 1, 2026.
Miss Nisha Bamberg, chief financial officer, told the committee the plan recorded about 26 Stelara prescriptions in the 2024–25 plan year and that the plan’s cost for those prescriptions was “about $540,000.” She said staff estimated roughly $210,000 in annual savings if the same number of prescriptions remain after switching to a biosimilar while maintaining equivalent clinical effect for patients.
Bamberg framed the request as similar to a previous shift to a Humira biosimilar. After her presentation, Miss Smith moved to approve the change; Mister Jordan seconded the motion. The committee called for ayes, recorded no nays on the record and the motion passed.
The committee did not record individual vote tallies in the transcript. The change is set to be implemented Jan. 1, 2026; staff will proceed to update plan documents and communicate the change to eligible employees and dependents.
