EBR Metro Council approves new retiree health plan

BATON ROUGE, La. (Louisiana First) — After unanimous approval by the East Baton Rouge Parish Metro Council, they said this plan will not only reshape the city-parish’s health care programs, but save taxpayers $19 million.

“We found changes that we can make that wouldn’t impact our employees and wouldn’t have a significant impact on our retirees,” said Councilwoman of District 12 Jen Racca.

Those changes, they said, were financially responsible and needed. At the special meeting, members gave the green light for a shift in health benefits.

“This is a privatized Medicare plan that’s through the Blue Cross Blue Shield Network. So, the network doesn’t change what it does for the retirees, so they no longer have to pay for it each month. So, they have no costs to themselves. There will be no costs to be on this plan,” said Racca.

Racca said that with the amount of money being taken out of the city’s budget due to shifts like ThriveBR and giving funds to St. George, she said this was a more cost-efficient route.

“We have to try to find revenue to bring into our city and to our parish,” Racca said. “So, we need the money. So, anywhere this money goes, whether it’s a million, whether it’s 19 million, whatever we can use it for, to not cut services to our people, to not raise taxes to our people throughout the parish, whatever we can do to stop that from happening is what we’ve been working towards.”

Councilmembers said the only word on their mind for this is “saving.” Those who choose not to enroll won’t be affected and can continue using their current plan. Much of this covers visits to the hospital, prescriptions, and other medical needs.

While she said many who fit the criteria are happy, some still have questions. She said hopefully this new opportunity can expand in the future.

“But we want those conversations to continue to see if there are changes there that could be potential savings for 2027,” said Racca.

Over 1,500 people in East Baton Rouge Parish are currently eligible for the plan. Open enrollment starts in October.

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