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Did Rainwater simply forget to mention those “other” states with fully-funded health insurance programs?

Posted in Governor's Office, Health Care, House, Senate, Jobs, Legislature, Legislators, OGB, Office of Group Benefits, Retirement on May 2, 2011| 5 Comments »

Commissioner of Administration Paul Rainwater told the Senate Retirement Committee at least half-a-dozen times last week that Louisiana was “one of only two states” to run a completely self-funded Preferred Provider Organization (PPO) that pays claims exclusively from premiums paid in by members who are state employees or retirees.

Rainwater also said the elimination of 149 jobs that would occur if the Office of Group Benefits (OGB) is privatized would mean a savings of about $10 million to the state.

Both comments bear closer scrutiny.

Yes, Louisiana is indeed “one of only two states” to have a fully-funded PPO. Utah is the other.

But what Rainwater failed to say was that virtually all states self-fund at least one employee health care plan. So says the National Association of State Personnel Executives (NASPE) in its July 2010 white paper on the “Challenges and Current Practices in State Employee Healthcare.”

Researched and written by Katie Meyer, Colleen Schlect, and Betta Sherman of the University of Chicago, the publication also directly contradicted claims by Rainwater (and Jindal), that privatization would be more cost efficient than the PPO plan presently being run by OGB.

Quoting “Combined Public Employee Health Benefit Programs,” a March 2010 health care containment and efficiencies brief for the National Conference of State Legislators, the NASPE publication said self-funded plans “can typically save between five and six percent in administrative costs relative to fully-insured plans.”

Rainwater has insisted that the state’s PPO which now operates at a 3.5 percent administrative cost—not paid by the state’s General Fund, but out of premiums collected from members—could be improved upon by a private company even though he admitted in last Tuesday’s committee hearing that private companies generally experience administrative costs of 10 to 15 percent and some even as high as 20 percent.

Several members of the Retirement Committee, including Chairman D.A. “Butch” Gautreaux (D-Morgan City) had some difficulty with the math in Rainwater’s claim.

The “other” of the two states that presently have fully-funded PPOs is Utah and that state’s program has administrative costs of about 4 percent, according to agency Director Jeff Jensen.

Rainwater also did not mention that other states are moving in the direction of self-funded PPOs—a contra-flow, as it were, to the direction Jindal and Rainwater are attempting to force the state health benefits program.

So, what is it that Jindal and Rainwater know that other states do not? Or, rather, what is it the other states know that this administration refuses to acknowledge?

Here’s what some state administrators have to say about self-funded programs—programs like Louisiana’s that Jindal is trying so desperately to sell:

“In return for assuming risk, we get rewarded from favorable experienced, said Frank Johnson, Executive Director of Employee Health & Benefits for the State of Main. “Being self-funded allows us greater flexibility in terms of benefit design and collaborating with providers in partnerships.”

Debbie Cragun, Human Resource Administrative Director for the State of Utah, says, “You are potentially looking at hundreds of thousands, if not millions saved by going self-funded from fully insured.

Anne Timmons, Director, Employee Benefit Division for the State of Maryland, said cost trends have been below the national average and self-funding has been a major benefit. “If we were fully insured, our costs would be significantly higher,” she said.

Paula Fankhauser, Employee Benefits Administrator for the State of Nebraska, said her state’s plan is sufficient self-funded now that that was not always the case. When it first transitioned to self-funding, it did so with sufficient financial resources. “The state was literally waiting for employees to pay their premiums so we could pay their claims,” she said. A major legislative overhaul of the program rectified those problems and Nebraska now boasts a positive account balance that can cover all claims under virtually any circumstance, she said.

Doug Farmer, Deputy Director of the Kansas Health Policy Authority said that state re-evaluates its program on an annual basis. “Every time we re-examine it, we come to the same conclusion,” he said. “When you have the resources to manage your own pool the size of a state, it is a benefit to be self-insured.”

The NASPE study also said that among self-funded states, there is generally a higher level of satisfaction with current funding practices and claims payment. And most state officials seem to agree that self-funding health plans affords greater flexibility in terms of design and administrative cost-savings.

For example, self-funding has helped states implement wellness programs. “Being self-funded provides an incentive to implement wellness programs, since we pay the bills while someone else does the implementation and day-to-day management of the program,” said Daniel Hackler, Director of the Indiana State Personnel Department.

As for the elimination of those 149 jobs creating a $10 million savings to the state, Rainwater also forgot, or neglected to mention that those 149 salaries do not come out of the state’s General Fund. They are paid from the premiums paid by state employees and is part of the agency’s 3.5 percent administrative costs.

And any OGB surplus, by law, “shall not be used, loaned, or borrowed by the state for cash flow purposes or any other purpose inconsistent with the purposes of or the proper administration of the Office of Group Benefits.”

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Jindal: Mastering the art of doing less with more

Posted in Economy, Governor's Office, Jobs, Layoffs, Transparency on November 21, 2010| Leave a Comment »

Gov. Bobby Jindal’s office has announced that one of his top aides is leaving to pursue work in the private sector. The announcement immediately prompted two observations.

First, how is it, when thousands of Louisianians are out of work and unable to find jobs, Camille Conaway can simply walk away from a $110,000-per-year position—notice I said position, not job—and find work in the private sector? When hundreds of rank-and-file state employees are being laid off as the Christmas season approaches, it seems odd that she can jump to the head of the line—unless she has connections. Of course, we know no one from the governor’s office would intercede in her behalf while turning their backs on long-time dedicated civil service employees. Would they?

Well, why not? If it was good enough for former Commissioner of Administration Angelé Davis, why not, indeed.

Second, her departure gives the governor in absentia the perfect opportunity to lead by example.

If Jindal really wanted to make an impression (other than taking a helicopter to some remote protestant church in north Louisiana to give out federal stimulus money that he is against accepting on principle), then he would simply leave the position open, saving the state treasury that $110,000.

If he were really sincere about “doing more with less,” as he insists state agencies and state colleges and universities do, he would hold a press conference and, in his rapid-fire style of delivery say something like this:

“Three things: One, we are losing one of the administration’s top people. Two, we hate to see her go but after taking a close and critical look at my office, I have decided that I can do more with less. Three, the dozens of overpaid deadheads who remain are just gonna have to suck it up and do more work. They may, of course, be required to spend less time on Facebook but whatever it takes, we can, and will, do.”

That’s what he should have said. But that, unfortunately, is not what he did say.

In fact, he didn’t say anything. He left it to public relations flunky Kyle Plotkin.

Plotkin, in case you didn’t know, is from New Jersey. (Obviously, Jindal, who openly bemoans the exodus of Louisiana’s best and brightest to other states, was unable to find even one person from Louisiana who was qualified to grind out press releases.) Plotkin worked in various capacities for former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, which or course makes him eminently qualified to do what no one from this state is capable of doing: paying lip service to policy decisions by the Louisiana governor/wunderkind/frequent flyer/wannabe best-seller author who knows what’s best for America but not necessarily for Louisiana. Speaking of which, how can Jindal call himself an author when his book was ghost written (meaning he didn’t write a complete sentence of his own memoir that he dares to call Leadership and Crisis)?

But as usual, I digress.

Conaway, Plotkin said, was primarily responsible for developing Jindal’s legislative package and also worked with legislators. One has to wonder: Might part of the legislative package she developed have been stripping the State Board of Ethics of its power? Okay, that’s a rhetorical question and again, I’m off-point.

Plotkin went on to say that Conaway will be replaced by Michael Dailey, who served as (get this) deputy secretary of programs at the state Department of Children and Family Services. Deputy secretary of programs? What in the name of all that’s holy would that entail? What programs? Deputy secretary of programs sounds awfully Barney Fifeish.

Nevertheless, Dailey will pull down the same $110,000 salary as his predecessor, Plotkin said.

So much for leading by example. So much for doing more with less.

Can’t wait for your next book, Guv: How to Run A Shell Game With Only One Shell.

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Chaos & absenteeism define Jindal administration

Posted in Economy, Ethics, Governor's Office, Health Care, Higher Education, House, Senate, Jobs, Legislature, Legislators, Taxes, Transparency, tagged , , , , , on November 6, 2010| Leave a Comment »

If there’s a single word that could describe both the political and fiscal plight of Louisiana, that word would be chaotic. Absentee governor also comes to mind.

Gov. Bobby Jindal, when he’s not flying off to any of a growing number of other states to campaign for Republican candidates, is telling cabinet members and department heads to lead and to stop “whining” about proposed budget cuts that threaten to further stymie the state’s already stagnant economy and to gut higher education.

College presidents from one end of the state to the other are grappling with ways to keep from shutting down academic programs and laying off professors and teachers. The college presidents challenged Jindal’s Facebook criticism of the state’s colleges and universities for “underperforming” and for their “inefficiency.”

Professors also are entering the fray, openly criticizing the governor for everything from chronic absenteeism to insensitivity toward higher education as manifested by the administration’s deep budgetary cuts.

One legislator, perhaps with some measure of justification, or perhaps with an eye on the governor’s office in next year’s election, likewise accused Jindal of being absent from the state in a time of crisis.

Rep. John Bel Edwards of Amite described Jindal as absent without leave during “the most serious budget crisis in our history.” Edwards, a Democrat, said that Jindal “is not minding the store” and has been less than honest with Louisiana’s citizens about problems facing the state.

Edwards isn’t alone among legislators in offering criticism of the governor’s repeated optimistic proclamations on his statewide “Building a Better Louisiana for Our Children” tour. Press releases from the governor’s office quote Jindal as saying his administration is “doing more with less” and has “significantly cut government spending and reduced the size of government—while pursuing innovative programs that are more effective at providing services for our people.”

Several state senators, however, have called Jindal to task for what they feel is a lack of candor. The said he should be more straightforward about the types of severe budget cuts that will be necessary in order to balance next year’s budget. They said Jindal has been misleading the public in talking up cost savings and office consolidations while refusing to acknowledge the far-reaching budget cuts that will be needed to close the budget gap.

The president of the LSU student body gained national publicity recently when he wrote to a newspaper in New Hampshire where Jindal was campaigning. The letter asked the governor to return home and address the budgetary problems facing higher education. Only when J. Ryan Hudson’s letter got national attention did Jindal finally agree to meet with students to discuss cuts to higher education.

More recently, an LSU professor voiced similar sentiments, saying Jindal should do his job and “stop playing games.” A.R.P. Rau added that the governor, while critical of university sabbatical policies, failed to appreciate the irony that he is often “absent without leave from the state, neglecting it for his personal national aspirations.”

Perhaps the most significant criticism, however, came from Ed Steimel, retired president of the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry (LABI). Steimel, calling himself a longtime supporter of Jindal, now describes the governor as “a major disappointment” and said he no longer supports him. Steimel-perhaps with tongue in cheek, but perhaps not-even suggested that Hudson and Jindal swap jobs.

State Treasurer John Kennedy, sounding more and more like a potential 2011 challenger to his fellow Republican, has offered his own plan to balance the state budget now estimated to be more than $100 million in the red. Kennedy said his 16-point plan would produce an overall savings of $2.6 billion.

The governor’s office, even as it was responding to the college presidents, launched a web page dedicated to criticizing Kennedy’s proposals, with Commissioner of Administration Paul Rainwater saying that the state treasurer’s ideas were “unworkable.” Kennedy angrily responded to Rainwater, saying, “Tell me you don’t want to do it. Tell me you don’t have the political courage to do it. But don’t tell me it can’t be done.”

When he became governor, Jindal increased the size of the Louisiana Board of Ethics by more than two-thirds, from 23 to 39 staff positions but now has directed the agency to cut staff by 35 percent. Ethics Board Chairman Frank Simoneaux said personnel cuts would be “particularly egregious to us.” He said the board already in understaffed for it to perform the duties it is charged by law to do.

Department of Health and Hospitals Secretary Bruce Greenstein sent an Oct. 22 agency-wide email in which he said Jindal was “committed to providing the core health-care services and programs that our residents need.” At the same time, however, Greenstein announced a reorganization that “will lead to a reduction in staff.”

Even as Greenstein was parroting Jindal’s commitment to needed health-care services, physicians and legislators alike leveled stinging criticism of Jindal’s decision last week to scrap CommunityCare, a program which mainly serves children in providing primary-care physicians for Medicaid patients throughout Louisiana. By eliminating the extra $3 per patient per month paid physicians to coordinate care of individual Medicaid patients, Jindal said he hopes to cut spending by $16 million.

Nor is the governor the only one to incur the wrath of some observers. The same growing feeling of general frustration was also directed at the legislature.

A Baton Rouge retiree offered a proposal which isn’t likely to get many takers. He suggested that whenever cuts are necessary, legislators should be first in line to sacrifice. Bill Fontaine of the Baton Rouge suburb of Central said that would mean that salaries, staff, perks, and any other costs of making the legislature run must be cut proportionate to any cuts to higher education. “….imagine the legislators working for free when there is no budget to pay them…..” he said.

“But you see,” he added, “I’m a pessimist about legislative courage. I don’t think they have the courage to forgo some pay and/or benefits for the good of the people. They are just cowards and greedy grabbers….”

Even the Associated Press is beginning to call attention to Jindal’s growing propensity to speak of Louisiana’s economy in more glowing terms than its citizens back home can see.

Saying that the governor seems more focused on his own political future than on problems back home, AP points out that Jindal conveniently leaves out the bad news about the state’s finances when describing his administration’s accomplishments during appearances in other states.

The latest example of Jindal’s apparent propensity to embellish his image of the state came as recently as Oct. 27 in Wisconsin.

Appearing on behalf of eventual winning gubernatorial candidate Scott Walker, Jindal and Governors Bob McDonnell of Virginia and Haley Barbour of Mississippi told Wisconsin voters that their strategies of cutting taxes and shrinking government worked in their states. Their pronouncements prompted Walker to call the three his inspiration when he is asked how he will create jobs and make government smaller. Calling them “great leaders,” Walker said, “They did it and we’re going to do it.”

Jindal boasted that Louisiana’s economy improved when he cut or repealed tax increases passed under his Democratic predecessor Kathleen Blanco, adding that Americans need leaders who can balance budgets, create jobs, and cut taxes. (Actually, the Stelly Plan to which he was apparently alluding, was passed in 2002, the final year of Republican Gov. Mike Foster’s administration.)

The “improved” economy of Louisiana is wrestling with the current budget deficit of $106 million. As if that were not sufficiently severe, next year’s deficit is pegged—by the Jindal administration itself—at $1.6 billion while others project an even bigger budgetary shortfall.

Back home in Louisiana, however, Jindal said it will be necessary for cabinet members and department heads to deliver better value with fewer dollars. “We don’t need whining. We do need leadership,” he said at a Capitol press conference. Then, apparently satisfied to leave the leadership to others, he immediately left for Pittsburgh to attend a fundraiser for the Republican gubernatorial candidate in Pennsylvania.

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The high price of higher education

Posted in Higher Education, Jobs on September 24, 2010| 1 Comment »

When it comes to recession-proof employment, the best job in north Louisiana would appear to be a teaching position at one of Lincoln Parish’s two universities.

Between the two institutions, Tech and Grambling have over 200 teaching and support personnel knocking down $90,000 per year or more, according to information contained in the schools’ proposed budgets for 2010-2011.

Tech has 138 and GSU had 20 with salaries of $100,000 or more. Tech had 35 and GSU added eight more with salaries of between $90,000 and $100,000. Those numbers are exclusive of athletic department personnel, who added a few more to the totals at each school.

Over to the east, the University of Louisiana-Monroe had 40 positions listed in excess of $100,000 per year and 35 more between $90,000 and $100,000, the bulk of those in the School of Pharmacy.

Dan Reneau led the three university presidents with a salary of $350,000 and a car allowance of $7200 per year. Frank Pogue will be paid $200,000 at Grambling while his executive assistant will get $96,000. Reneau’s executive assistant is paid $113,220.

Stephen Richters, who assumed the presidency of ULM on Aug. 1, will draw a pro-rated salary of $166,267 based on a yearly salary of $252,886.

Enrollment figures for the three schools won’t be released until sometime in January, so overall budget requests, which are based in large part on enrollment and tuition, are speculative at best.

Tech’s total budget request is for $186.2 million, which is nearly $12 million more than last year’s budget of $174.5 million. Gov. Bobby Jindal has placed state universities on notice to prepare for further budget cuts of up to 35 percent.

Of the total budget request for Tech, nearly $41.1 million would be in state funds and another $45.7 would be in the form of student fees, including registration and tuition. The balance would come from interagency transfers and from self-generated revenue that would include endowments, grants, and non-resident fees.

Grambling is seeking a total budget of nearly $89.2 million, which would be about $270,000 less than last year. Of that amount, $18.2 million would be in state appropriations, $30.6 million in student fees, and $28.1 million in self-generated revenue.

As might be expected, Tech, with its quarter system, is the most expensive of the three schools but still far below the Southern and national averages in costs.

Tuition and registration at Tech is $1,213.25 per quarter for the fall, winter and spring quarters, for a total of $5,544 per year if a student does not attend summer school. University and student-assessed fees add another $634.75 for a total resident fee of $1,848 per quarter, not counting housing, meals and books.

ULM’s total resident fee is $2,317.65 per semester, or $4,635.30 total for the fall and spring semesters, while GSU’s resident fee is $2,214 per semester, or $4,428 for fall and spring semesters. Tuition and fees for all three schools is based on 12 or more semester credit hours (SCR).

Just in case you might be interested in what you’re paying for, here are the fees assessed by the university:

• Speech and Forensics Fee (Are they teaching how to speak CSI?);
• Alumni Support Fee (Shouldn’t alumni be supporting themselves, especially the Wyly brothers?);
• Student Center Fee;
• Student Newspaper Fee;
• Student Assistance Fee (Okay, so then if I need assistance, I have to pay?);
• Music Fee;
• Concert Fee (These aren’t the same?);
• Intramurals Fee;
• Academic Service Fee (I thought that was what tuition was);
• Assessment Fee (What?);
• Student Service Fee (I’d like an explanation, please);
• Student Government Fee;
• Student Union Board Fee (Someone please explain the difference between Student Government and Student Union Board);
• Student Recreation Facility Fee (Wouldn’t that be the same as Intramurals Fee?);
• Student Radio Station Fee;
• Student Library Fee;
• Student Accident Insurance;
• Technology Fee;
• Energy Surcharge;
Total University-assessed fee: $545.25 (based on 12 or more SCR);

• Student-assessed fees:
• Sports Club Fee (Again, wouldn’t that be the Intramurals Fee?);
• Health Fee (I’m just sayin’….);
• Parking/Campus Enhancement Fee (Parking? Are you kidding me?);
• Spirit Group Fee (What, pray tell, would this be?);
• Organization Development Fee (You’re putting me on, right?);
• Athletic Fee (So we can watch the Bulldogs get their teeth kicked in by Alabama, Auburn, Texas A&M, LSU, et al?).

Total Student-Assessed Fees: $89.50 (based on 12 or more SCR).

Total fees (based on 12 or more SCR): $634.75 per quarter ($1,904.25 per year).

When I was a student at Tech, which admittedly was more than 40 years ago, I could go to school for an entire year on just one of today’s $634.75 quarterly fee assessments.

….And my first new car, right off the showroom floor, was $1600; gasoline was 30 cents per gallon, and I paid a whopping $11,000 for my first home–on a half-acre lot.

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With the Thompsons, it’s a family affair

Posted in Ethics, House, Senate, Jobs, Legislature, Legislators, Transparency on August 20, 2010| 1 Comment »

With the elevation of Brant Thompson to interim commissioner of the Louisiana Office of Alcohol and Tobacco Control, the question becomes how many of State Sen. Francis C. Thompson’s family members will end up in high-ranking positions in Louisiana state government?

Brant Thompson, one of Francis Thompson’s two sons who are employed by state agencies, served for a number of years as ATC deputy commissioner. He was promoted to interim commissioner after his boss, Commissioner Murphy J. Painter, resigned last week. Thompson’s salary before his promotion was listed at $84,864 per year. Painter, meanwhile, is under investigation by state police and the state inspector general’s office.

Among other things, Painter is being investigated for hacking into personnel files of employees and strangers alike, of sexual harassment, discrimination, and stalking.

Thompson’s other son, Todd Thompson, works for the Louisiana Department of Agriculture. Sen. Francis Thompson (D-Delhi) served for four years as chairman of the House Agriculture Committee before being term limited for his House seat and subsequently was elected to the Senate seat formerly held by similarly term-limited Charles Jones of Monroe. He now serves as chairman of the Senate Agriculture, Forestry, Aquaculture, and Rural Development Committee.

Francis Thompson’s first cousin, J.S. “Bud” Thompson, is director of the Louisiana Office of Risk Management, which is being privatized over a five-year period. Bud Thompson’s wife recently retired from her position with the Louisiana Bond Commission.

An older brother, Clyde “Weasel” Thompson (as he was known when he coached P.E. at Louisiana Tech University in Ruston in the 60s and ’70s) served for a time as second in command to Department of Transportation and Development Secretary Paul Hardy during the administration of former Gov. Dave Treen and more recently has been serving as Executive Director of the Madison Port Commission at a salary of $49,207 even though he reportedly rarely leaves home and even more rarely shows up at his office.

Finally, the senator’s younger brother, Mike Thompson, was formerly mayor of Delhi and later served as director of the Poverty Point Reservoir District.

Controversy seems to follow members of the Thompson family in their capacities as public employees. Besides Brant, who received his promotion at ATC by default, his brother Todd was ticketed six years ago for driving while intoxicated in Baton Rouge after being involved in an auto accident at 10:15 p.m. on July 7, 2004 while driving a Department of Agriculture vehicle.

The Baton Rouge city police accident report said that while the accident was not the fault of Todd Thompson, he was nevertheless cited for DWI after refusing a field sobriety test at the scene of the accident. Todd Thompson, despite his driving while intoxicated in a state vehicle at 10:15 p.m., remained in his job.

Francis Thompson has been the subject of considerable controversy with his proposed ground water reservoir feasibility studies around the state, including Poverty Point in Richland Parish, as well as Washington Parish, Lincoln Parish, and others. Poverty Point received appropriations totaling more than $3.1 million in this year’s appropriations and capital outlay bills.

Bud Thompson was the catalyst in the privatization of the Office of Risk Management which was facilitated by what some employees felt was tweaking the evaluations of companies that bid on the contract so that an area private claims adjusting firm might win the contract. The outsourcing of the agency will either force employees into working for the private firm or taking early retirement. Those who move into the private sector will have their retirement seniority interrupted in some cases decades before employees are eligible for retirement though Bud Thompson, in his own words, will still have his job.

Mike Thompson was indicted and subsequently convicted in federal court for using Poverty Point Reservoir District employees to perform work on his private property.

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