Story by Vincent Grisby
Tuesday night, the Lincoln Parish school board convened for its monthly meeting. Other than routine reports, this meeting’s primary agenda items were several motions for the renewal of insurance benefits for the district’s 2023 Group Insurance plan.
David Charpentier, the vice president of the Employee Benefits Division of the brokerage firm Brown and Brown, Inc., reported that because of an increase in claims from the school system, there would be a $24 price increase after the renewal of the group coverage plan.
“We recommend you stay with Blue Cross,” Charpentier reported. “The [new plan] does have a premium increase, it’s gone for $305 to $329. However, that is still below the premium that it was when you put the plan in 2020-2021. It’s just higher than last year. And the reason for the increase is increased claims.”
Charpentier also set expectations for the school board regarding a possible lack dental coverage.
“The issue you members are having around here is that there are no network dentists around here,” Charpentier said. “Dentists in Louisiana just don’t join networks. There’s a Louisiana Dental Association client of mine— I know those folks—where what they advise dentists to do when you first get out of school, and they’re first starting their practice, as soon as money starts rolling in, they are out of there.”
Charpentier went on to explain that cost increases were necessary to cover the cost of balance billing, which is when providers such as doctor’s offices, pharmacies and clinics bill clients for the amount that their insurance doesn’t pay.
“What we’re looking at is a custom-designed plan that will create an allowable that should 99% eliminate balance bills,” Charpentier said. “Now that drives up the cost, but that’s the way you can really balance bills.”
Charpentier then sought to further assure the board about when they could expect possible plans to address possible coverage gaps.
“Possibly sometime next year…we’re working with a carrier, MetLife,” said Charpentier. “They’re one of the largest if not the largest dental carrier in the country. They’re doing a lot of things for us in order to bend over backwards to make this work.”
The school board council passed the motion to renew the 2023 Group Plan with no objections.
Superintendent Ricky Durrett reported that schools will close on Tuesday, November 8, for elections.
“We will be out of school next Tuesday for the election. I encourage everyone to go out and vote,” he said. “This entire school is used, there are so many polling places that we are closed.”
Durrett closed the meeting with a hopeful report on the status of a status of a stimulus- funded effort to outfit I.A. Lewis and Choudrant High School with cameras in the classrooms and hallways.
Durrett added: “And eventually over the next year we’ll get all these school’s done and have cameras in every school and every classroom”.
