Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Archive for the ‘Legislature, Legislators’ Category

FEMA, politics and insurance form unholy alliance as storms cost policyholders, US taxpayers $10 billion in padded costs

Posted in Business, Congress, Corruption, Ethics, Fraud, Legislature, Legislators, Politicians, Taxes, Waste on May 4, 2017| 9 Comments »

To get past those cute but misleading TV ads, and arrive at a better understanding of just how the insurance industry really works, you need to understand first, that insurance companies are in the business to make money for their stockholders.

That’s it. There is no second. The policyholder is never taken into consideration when there is a claim. The mindset for the insurance company, no matter what name or logo is on its letterhead, is driven by one overriding question: How can we get out of this obligation with the least cost to shareholders?

It matters not one whit whether it is life, property & casualty, auto, or health insurance. The company’s very purpose for existing is not to see that policyholders are made whole but how the payout on claims may be minimized so as to inflict the least monetary damage to the company’s bottom line.

Do you think that life insurance claim that was slow paying off was simply to investigate whether or not the beneficiary had a part in the insured’s death? While that may be a part of it, particularly in cases of suspicious circumstances (such as falling off a cliff during a hike in Bryce Canyon), there may well be other factors involved, such as delaying payment as long as possible in order to accrue as much return on the investment of premiums as possible.

You didn’t really think the companies just leave that money lying around waiting for the insured to die, did you? No, it’s invested heavily in all sorts of things in order to earn money for the company.  https://www.paxforpeace.nl/stay-informed/news/insurers-invest-nearly-7-billion-in-controversial-arms-trade

And it’s your money they do it with.

Did you ever wonder why your auto insurance company would suggest a particular body shop for repairs to your car after an accident? Why not the body shop of the dealer from whom the car was purchased? It could be—and often is—because the recommended body shop uses what is called “after-market” parts for repairs. That means the parts are generally inferior to those of the dealership’s original parts and can diminish the resale value of your vehicle. Did you ever notice that after repairs at some of those shops, the quarter panel replacement no longer fits flush with the original undamaged part of your car? Or you have air leaks (or worse, water leaks) around the replacement door that weren’t there before? That would be the likely result of after-market parts. http://www.repairerdrivennews.com/2015/02/12/anderson-cooper-360-piece-attacks-insurers-for-steering-parts-video/

You’re not happy, but your insurance company is ecstatic. https://louisianavoice.com/2014/05/08/insurers-auto-repair-tactics-only-part-of-problem-jindal-old-firm-mckinsey-co-coached-katrina-on-claims-delays-denials/

And who hasn’t experienced battles with health insurance companies that refused to cover a certain type of treatment because it’s considered “experimental.” Now, because of changes in the Office of Group Benefits instituted by the Jindal administration, state retirees who move out of state may find themselves no longer covered because their physicians are “out of network,” meaning they are non-participants in OGB’s coverage plan. Sorry, we don’t have any doctors in Arkansas or Mississippi who are part of the plan. https://louisianavoice.com/2014/08/25/louisianavoice-learns-of-jindal-plan-to-force-state-retirees-out-of-ogb-by-raising-members-premiums-cutting-benefits/

But by far, the most subtle method of claim manipulation is in the property & casualty field, namely your homeowners and flood insurance programs.

As we wrote in April, insurers will prepare repair estimates at two costs, depending on whether the damage to a home was caused by wind or flood. Repair estimates generally run much less on wind damage claims than for floods—even though the same material is used on each claim.

That is because the companies themselves are on the hook for any wind damage while flood damage, if covered at all, is the responsibility of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), claims for which are paid by the federal government, i.e. taxpayers.

But that’s not to say Allstate is averse to handling flood claims. Quite the contrary. Allstate, in fact, has had an arrangement with NFIP under which NFIP Allstate is paid for handling flood claims.

Accordingly, if Allstate found itself on the hook for wind damages, it would use a lower formula for paying claimants but if it determined the damages were caused by flooding, a second, more expensive separate formula would be employed.

In one example we found, damage was determined to be from wind and Allstate paid 83 cents per square foot for removal and replacement of drywall (sheetrock). In another claim from the same storm and in the same part of the state, it was determined to be flood damage and that same dry wall removal and replacement—paid for by American taxpayers—was $1.53 per square foot, a difference of 70 cents per square foot. Painting that drywall cost Allstate 35 cents per square foot for the wind-damage claim but cost NFIP (taxpayers) 58 cents per square foot for the flood damage claim.

That was not an anomaly. In comparing two 2011 claims from Tropical Storm Lee in southwest Louisiana, LouisianaVoice found that damage to one home was determined to be from wind. The cost of removing and replacing drywall (sheetrock) was estimated at $1.75 per square foot and painting of the drywall was estimated at 55 cents per square foot. That, of course was the cost to the insurance company, in this case, Colonial.

A second claim only a few miles away, also the result of Lee, was also for a home covered by Colonial. In this case, the damaged was determined to be the result of flooding, so the claim now belonged to NFIP. The estimate to remove and repair drywall for this home was $2.47 per square foot and the cost of painting that same drywall was estimated at 87 cents per square foot.

Assuming an area of 1000 square feet, you’re looking at a cost differential of $720 for removal and replacement of the drywall and a difference of $320 for painting, or an overall cost increase of $1,040 for repairs to a flood-damaged home compared to the wind-damaged structure.

By the time, other costs are factored in—costs for such things as replacing and painting molding, baseboards, doors and door frames, replacing electrical outlets and door hardware, removing and replacing windows and window trim, painting window frames, replacement of carpeting and/or wood flooring, the difference between a wind and a flood claim can be enormous.

And that doesn’t even include one other factor that goes into all estimates—overhead and profit (O&P) for the contractor. There has to be a profit for the contractor. That’s understandable; no one would expect him to repair your house for nothing.

But like the repairs themselves, the percentage of overhead and profit has a wide variance, depending on whether or not the damage is determined to be from wind or flooding.

LouisianaVoice has obtained three boxes of claims documents that not only reflect damning evidence of NFIP gouging on the costs of specific repairs, but in the allowance for contractor O&P, as well.

Built-in allowances for O&P for wind claims paid by the individual companies range around 20-29 percent. But for flood claims, paid by the American taxpayer through the NFIP, that O&P can range from 48 to 51 percent, according to documents in our possession.

For example, going back to 2005, O&P for one wind-damage claim was estimated at 28 percent for a Mississippi wind claim from 2005’s Hurricane Katrina. But flood damage from the same hurricane resulted in contractor O&P of 51 percent. Both estimates were done by Allstate.

Wind damage from Hurricane Ida in Texas in 2009 resulted in a claim in which contractor O&P was 29 percent, according to Allstate damage estimates. But when damage from that same storm was determined to be from flooding, the contractor O&P shot up quickly, to 49 percent, Allstate documents show.

But Allstate and Colonial were not the only practitioners of such claim manipulation—not by a long shot. Here’s a story about how the game was played in the same manner by STATE FARM.

Project these tactics over a large, densely-populated area like that destroyed by Hurricane Katrina in Louisiana and the Mississippi Gulf Coast, and at least one estimate of the increased cost from “padding” both specific damages and contractor overhead and profit has taxpayers in the two states being ripped off to the tune of approximately $10 billion.

And while strict insurance fraud laws are on the books that could result in a prison sentence if you so much as included a non-existent flat screen television on your claim, there apparently is no one minding the store to guard against raping the taxpayer-funded NFIP.

And as long as the insurance companies continue to pour money into the campaign coffers of members of Congress, state legislators and regulators, you can be sure there will never be.

Perfect.

Read Full Post »

Here’s a novel idea for all politicians, federal down to local: drop the Democrat, Republican labels and just do your jobs

Posted in Campaign Contributions, Civil Service, Congress, Elections, Ethics, Finances, Governor's Office, Legislature, Legislators, Lobbyist, Politicians, Retirement on May 3, 2017| 26 Comments »

As a recovering Republican, I feel I am in a unique position to suggest that all political party labels be abandoned in favor of candidates representing constituents as opposed to clinging stubbornly to the blind loyalty of some group of adherents referring to themselves as Democrat, Republican or Libertarian.

Civilized countries like Canada, Australia, and the United Kingdom have no legal political parties (although the media sometimes mistakenly refer to opposition groups as “parties”). If it’s good enough for them, it should suffice for us.

For once, I’d like to see a politician who is defined not by some label but by his own core beliefs and principles, formed independently and absent the dictates of a so-called “party” which is supported by special interests who dictate the philosophy of its labeled and packaged candidates.

I would much prefer to vote for someone because of he or she actually stands for something rather than putting party loyalty above all else. President Teddy Roosevelt had the political courage to stand up to his own Republican Party and demand corporate health regulations and to fight monopolistic trusts. Somehow, that courage has evaporated in the interest of party unity which, of course, encourages a more reliable flow of campaign contributions from the vested interests.

I don’t say this as a way of placing my intellect above that of my contemporaries (God knows that would be a foolish assumption on my part) but the two major parties in this country—all the way down to our petulant legislature—long ago arrived at loggerheads with each other to the detriment of those who put them in office.

It’s more than a little sickening to watch. Besides, we already have The Jerry Springer Show.

In a recent discussion with an old friend and long-time political observer, he noted that Democrats as a group refuse to accept anything proposed by Republicans and Republicans as a group counter in kind. Can anyone really wonder that Congress has a lower approval rating than porta-potty cleaner-uppers? (Coincidentally, it might be worth mentioning that the longer Congress is in session, the greater the demand for porta-potty cleaner-uppers.)

My friend, who spent his career in state government, confided in me that he promised himself long ago that if he ever became jaded with his job, he would retire. He is now retired.

So, why don’t we just be honest with ourselves and admit that our political system no longer functions as a two-party, give-and-take forum? When you had someone like Sam Rayburn as Speaker of the House, things got done in Congress even though there was Republican opposition. That’s because while there was opposition, the two sides left room for compromise. With Newt Gingrich, we instead got a governmental shutdown. (Rayburn, the longest-serving House speaker in history, by the way, died broke while our own Bobby Jindal, by contrast, became a multi-millionaire during his three years in Congress.)

Elected office is no longer considered a public service; it is instead, an avocation in and of itself, a stepping stone to the next move up. Witness the shameless pursuit of the presidency by Jindal and the equally self-serving ambition of Attorney General Jeff Landry, U.S. Rep. Garrett Graves and U.S. Sen. John Kennedy to oust John Bel Edwards as governor. Accordingly, you will not hear the first utterance by Landry, Graves or Kennedy in support of anything proposed by Edwards.

Likewise, should Donald Trump ever say or propose anything with a scintilla of original thought or meaningful purpose, you will never hear Nancy Pelosi or any other Democrat speak out in support. That just isn’t done any more. There’s no civility in politics, no room for compromise.

Witness the banal, hackneyed behavior of the Louisiana Legislature, particularly over the past 10, 20, 30 years.

Because the state has systematically failed to pay its mandated share into the state retirement system, we’re now saddled with an insurmountable unfunded liability in each of the state retirement systems.

For decades, taxpayers of Livingston, Ascension and East Baton Rouge parishes have been paying a millage to construct the Comite River Diversion Canal project to prevent flooding. The project is no nearer completion today than it was 25 years ago and we have the delays to thank, at least in part, for that horrendous flood of last August. And now guess what? After pissing away the monies that were supposed to have gone to flood control with those millage collections, some legislators, in their collective buffoonery, now want to snatch nearly $200 million from federal monies intended for flood victims to use instead for flood control.

It’s almost like gasoline taxes that were supposed to have gone to repair our roads and bridges and the revenue from gaming that was supposed to fund public education. Of course, as soon as those gaming funds were approved, the legislature jerked an identical amount from other funding, the Support Education in Louisiana First Fund, and the result for public education was another version of the old shell game. Now you see it, not you don’t.

Fast forward to the Jindal years when state employees suddenly found themselves going six years on end without a pay raise. Now those Jindal years have spilled over into the Edwards years and those same legislators are still playing a game called kick the financial can down the road and state employees are still falling further and further behind the inflationary curve. Prices are up, health insurance is up, but salaries remain stagnant—with the exception of State Police (not to be confused with Department of Public Safety officers who undergo the same training but have not enjoyed the 30 percent pay raise received by State Troopers).

And now, House Bill 302 by House majority leader Lance Harris (R-Alexandria) would assess parolees an additional $37 fee per month (from $63 to $100), the money to be used to fund a pay increase for parole officers. As has become almost a ritual, the vote was split along party lines.

It’s really a beautiful thing to watch these guys cherry pick their personal little projects—like Harris’s fee assessment. I’m sure the rest of Louisiana’s civil service employees are applauding his magnanimous gesture toward the beleaguered parole officers.

Not to diminish the seriousness of their plight, but parole officers aren’t the only state civil service employees who are hurting. And Harris is not the only member of the legislature who is completely out of touch with the daily struggles of state employees, many of whom were victims of last year’s floods.

This is serious business and Harris and his colleagues should get together and try to figure out how the state’s fiscal problems can be addressed without the same old tired political rhetoric spouted along party lines. It’s time for compromise and hard decisions and the legislature, as a body, is not showing any inclination of making those hard decisions.

The governor’s plan is not perfect—far from it. But neither is the continued petty bickering of the legislature getting anything done. You’re not being paid to come to Baton Rouge to participate in some kind of elementary school blame game. You were sent here to solve problems and put this state back on sound financial footing.

Instead, you plaster an “R” or a “D” to your respective foreheads and start squawking like a couple of tomcats in a dark alley—even as you hold out your hands for political contributions from the special interests who pay you to just keep squawking like you always have.

A hint: We can see you and we can hear you and you’re not impressing anyone.

Drop the party labels and declare yourselves not as Republican or Democrat but as Louisianans.

Do the right thing. Do your jobs.

Read Full Post »

Legislature continues to dodge its fiduciary responsibility but you can’t say it hasn’t been a ‘Commend Performance’

Posted in Education, Ethics, Finances, Governor's Office, Higher Education, House, Senate, Legislature, Legislators, Politicians on April 27, 2017| 21 Comments »

Legislators continue to whistle past the fiscal graveyard as the state’s highways and bridges are crumbling, public education is starving, state workers are looking at yet another year without a raise, the unfunded liabilities of the state’s retirement systems continue to grow and colleges and universities are looking at the hopeless abyss of $1.7 billion in deferred maintenance of physical plant. (A school-by-school breakdown of that deferred maintenance at the state’s higher education institutions can be found HERE in the latest post of ulyankee.)

Like a spoiled child who refuses to listen to parents who are equally reluctant to discipline him, the Legislature continues to play the artful dodger in meeting its fiduciary responsibilities. As pitiful a governor as Bobby Jindal was, he only did what the House and Senate allowed him to do. And while all those corporate tax breaks looked great to LABI, ALEC, lobbyists, and the generous corporate campaign contributors, they did little to prop up the economic structure of the state or to meet the responsibilities for education, roads, services for the mentally ill, children’s services, state employees, teachers, the sick and the state’s low-income citizens.

And now, with a real opportunity to do something about the myriad of problems, it appears legislators will again punt by categorically rejecting any progressive legislation while rolling over for their corporate donors.

It would be one thing to resist the administration’s less than confidence-inspiring proposals if an alternative, workable plan were offered up. But when is the last time anyone has seen that coming from either chamber? (Hint: Never.)

When a baseball or football team performs as miserably, it’s always the coach who’s fired—because it’s impractical to fire the entire team. When the legislature fails to do its job, it’s the governor who’s thrown under the bus for the failure to accomplish anything toward solving the problems.

But that’s not to say the legislature has been standing idly by. For from it. The 2017 legislative session has thus far turned in a bona fide commend performance for Louisiana’s senators and representatives who apparently never saw someone or something to commend they didn’t like or, lacking that, to seize the opportunity to designate some special day.

Here’s a partial example of what your elected representatives and senators have accomplished 17 days into the 60-day session:

  • SB 29 (ALARIO): Recognizes April 19, 2017, as University of Louisiana System Day at the Louisiana Legislature.
  • SB 23 (ALARIO): Designates the new bridge across Goose Bayou on LA 45 in Jefferson Parish as the “Jules Nunez Bridge”
  • HCR 44 (AMADEE): Commends the Louisiana State University at Alexandria men’s basketball team for its outstanding achievements in its first three seasons
  • HR 32 (BARRAS): Designates Tuesday, April 18, 2017, as LSU Day at the state capitol
  • HR 48 (BARRAS): Recognizes Wednesday, April 19, 2017, as University of Louisiana System day at the state capitol (Sorry, dude, Alario beat you to it.)
  • HR 60 (BARRAS):  Designates Wednesday, April 26, 2017, as Liquefied Natural Gas Day at the state capitol (We already have too much hot air at the Capitol, why do we need gas, too?)
  • SCR 6 (BARROW): Designates Tuesday, April 11, 2017, as AKA Day at the capitol.
  • SR 11 (BARROW): Commends Tiffany Dickerson on her reign as Mrs. Baton Rouge 2016.
  • SR 12 (BARROW): Commends Tanya Crowe on her reign as Miss Baton Rouge USA 2016
  • SR 13 (BARROW): Commends Kimberly Maria Ducote on her reign as Miss Teen Baton Rouge USA 2016.
  • SR 14 (BARROW): Commends Brittany Arbor Shipp on winning the 2016 Mrs. Louisiana America Pageant.
  • SR 16 (BARROW): Commends Stacey Richard on her accomplishments and contributions as executive director of the Mrs. Louisiana Pageant, the Miss Baton Rouge Pageant, and the Miss Capital City Pageant.
  • HCR 39 (BERTHELOT): Designates Wednesday, May 3, 2017, as LMA Municipal Day at the state capitol
  • SR 47 (WESLEY BISHIP):  Commends XS Martial Arts Dojo and Save One Now for presenting the 10th Annual Crescent City Kumite being held on May 20, 2017. (Whatever.)
  • SCRs 21-24 (BOUDREAUX): Commends Marion Overton White, Clifton Lemelle Sr., Gloria Nye, PhD, and Patrick Fontenot for their induction into the St. Landry Parish Democratic Party Hall of Fame.
  • HR 22 (BROADWATER): Commends the Louisiana Athletic Trainers Association and designates Wednesday, April 19, 2017, as LATA Day at the state capitol
  • HCR 50 (CARMODY): Recognizes May 2017 as Building Safety Month
  • HR 29, 30 (CARPENTER): Recognizes Tuesday, April 18, 2017, asPhi Beta Sigma & Zeta Phi Beta Day at the state capitol
  • HCR 41 (GARY CARTER): Commends several Tulane University students upon winning NASA’s BIG Idea Challenge competition (is that the way the commendation reads: “several Tulane students”?)
  • HB 297 (ROBBY CARTER):  Provides relative to membership on the Sweet Potato Advertising and Development Commission (More proof we have too damn many board and commissions.)
  • SR 26 (TROY CARTER): Recognizes April 23, 2017, as International Children’s Day.
  • SR 59 (CHABERT): Recognizes April 27, 2017, as Louisiana Society of Professional Surveyors Day at the Louisiana State Capitol.
  • SR 9 (CLAITOR): Designates April 17, 2017, as Kappa Beta Delta Day.
  • SCR 44 (COLOMB): Commends the Public Administration Institute Student Association (PAISA) at Louisiana State University and recognizes April 13, 2017, as the 19th annual PAISA Day at the Louisiana Legislature.
  • HCR 22 (COUSSAN): Commends the St. Thomas More Catholic High School football team on winning the 2016 Division II state championship
  • HR 37 (COX): Commends William Hymes on his significant accomplishments
  • HR 33 (DAVIS): Commends LSU Physicist Gabriela Gonzalez for her work in a groundbreaking scientific discovery (again: does the commendation say simply for “a groundbreaking scientific discovery”?)
  • HR 31 (DEVILLIER): Commends Louisiana State University Eunice for its efforts to offer more educational opportunities for the state’s residents (Isn’t that why it exists? So we commend institutions for doing their job now?)
  • HCR 23 (DWIGHT): Commends the South Beauregard girls’ basketball team upon winning the 2017 Class 3A state championship
  • HCR 5 (EMERSON): Amends and repeals administrative licensing requirements relative to alternative hair and alternative hair design (Your guess is as good as ours).
  • HR 27 (FOIL): Designates Monday, April 17, 2017, as DASH Diet Day at the state capitol (If this will help rid the capitol of all those fat cats down there, I’m all for it.)
  • HR 34 (FRANKLIN): Commends Shelton Dunaway for his musical achievements and recognizes him as a southwest La. cultural treasure (For those who might not know, he was a member of Cookie and the Cupcakes that had the wonder song Matilda.)
  • HB 612 (GLOVER): Provides for compensation for wrongful conviction and imprisonment (This from a man who, while mayor of Shreveport, told a person that once an officer pulls him over, he has no rights.)
  • HB 191 (GUINN): Changes the name of the “Quail Unlimited” prestige license plate to the “Quail Forever” prestige license plate (Sigh.)
  • HB 243 (HALL): Changes “school bus driver” to “school bus operator” in Title 17 (Please tell us this is a joke.)
  • HCR 40 (HALL): Commends Peabody Magnet High School boys’ basketball team upon winning the 2017 Class 3A state championship
  • HCR 20 (HENSGENS): Commends the Gueydan High School girls’ basketball team upon winning the 2017 Class A state championship
  • SCR 17 (HEWITT): Commends the Slidell Republican Women’s Club on its 50th anniversary.
  • SCR 20 (HEWITT): Designates the first week of December as Shop Local Artists Week in Louisiana.
  • SR 37 (HEWITT): Recognizes the Junior Auxiliary of Slidell and designates April 2-8, 2017, as “Junior Auxiliary Week” at the Louisiana Senate.
  • HR 4 (HOFFMAN): Recognizes April 11, 2017, as Louisiana Society of Anesthesiologists Day at the state capitol
  • HB 214 (HORTON):  Prohibits the roadside sale of domestic rabbits (Seriously?)
  • HR 56 (HUNTER): Recognizes Wednesday, May 3, 2017, as Omega Psi Phi Day at the state capitol
  • HR 21 (HUVAL): Recognizes Monday, May 15, 2017, as I-49 South Day at the state capitol
  • HR 67 (HUVAL): Commends the Breaux Bridge Crawfish Festival and designates Thursday, April 27, 2017, as Crawfish Festival Day at the state capitol
  • HR 9 (JAMES): Commends Kimberly Maria Ducote of Mansura on being named Miss Teen Baton Rouge USA
  • HR 10 (JAMES): Commends Tanya Crowe of Amite on being named Miss Baton Rouge USA
  • HR 11 (JAMES):  Commends Tiffany Dickerson on being named Mrs. Baton Rouge
  • HR 12 (JAMES): Commends Brittany Arbor Shipp on being named Mrs. Louisiana America of Baton Rouge
  • HR 13 (JAMES): Commends Stacey Richard, executive director for the Miss Baton Rouge and the Mrs. Louisiana America pageant organizations
  • HR 44 (JEFFERSON): Commends Coach Eric Dooley of Grambling State University for being named the American Football Coaches Association Football Championship Subdivision Assistant Coach of the Year
  • HR 52 (JEFFERSON): Commends Grambling State University for winning the 2016 Southwestern Athletic Conference Football Championship and the 2016 Historically Black College and University National Football Championship
  • HCR 33 (JENKINS): Commends Dr. G. E. Ghali for his leadership as chancellor of LSU Health Sciences Center in Shreveport
  • SCR 10 (JOHNS): Recognizes May 3, 2017, as Purple and Teal Day in the state of Louisiana.
  • SR 44 (JOHNS): Recognizes Wednesday, April 26, 2017, as the fifth annual Liquefied Natural Gas Day at the state capitol
  • HR 28 (JORDAN): Commends ExxonMobil and recognizes April 17, 2017, as ExxonMobil Day at the Louisiana State Capitol
  • SR 42 (LAFLEUR): Designates Monday, April 24, 2017, as Tourism Day at the state capitol.
  • HCR 42 (TERRY LANDRY): Commends Mt. Calvary Baptist Church of New Iberia on its one hundred forty-second anniversary
  • HR 36 (LEBAS): Commends the Louisiana Physical Therapy Association and designates Tuesday, April 18, 2017, as Louisiana Physical Therapy Association Day at the state capitol
  • HCR 25 (LEGER): Recognizes Wednesday, April 19, 2017, as Louisiana A+ Schools Day at the state capitol
  • HCR 29 (LEGER): Designates Wednesday, April 19, 2017, as New Orleans Day at the legislature
  • HR 17 (LEOPOLD): Designates Wednesday, April 19, 2017, as Plaquemines Parish Day at the state capitol
  • HR 50 (LEOPOLD): Commends the organizers and volunteers of the 2017 Plaquemines Parish Fair and Orange Festival, Orange Queen, and Teen Orange Queen
  • HR 51 (LEOPOLD): Commends the organizers and volunteers of the 2017 Plaquemines Parish Heritage and Seafood Festival and its Seafood Queen (Oranges and seafood; what a combination!)
  • HR 61 (MAGEE): Designates Thursday, April 27, 2017, as Louisiana Society of Professional Surveyors Day at the state capitol
  • HCR 43 (DUSTIN MILLER): Recognizes the week of May 6 through 12, 2017, as National Nurses Week in Louisiana
  • SR 4 (MILLS): Recognizes April 11, 2017, as Louisiana Society of Anesthesiologists Day at the state capitol. (Didn’t Hoffman already that, too? You guys really should communicate more.)
  • SR 25 (MILLS):  Commends the Louisiana Physical Therapy Association for its outstanding achievements and recognizes Tuesday, April 18, 2017, as Louisiana Physical Therapy Association Day.
  • SCR 23 (MIZELL): Declares May 26, 2017, as John Wayne Day at the Legislature. (Well, pilgrim…..I’m mighty obliged to ya.)
  • SR 19 (MIZELL): Commends the Loranger High School cheerleading team on winning the National Championship.
  • HR 58 (MORENO): Designates Monday, April 24, 2017, as Tourism Day at the state capitol
  • HR 71 (JIM MORRIS): Commends Vivian United Methodist Church upon the celebration of its one hundred thirteenth anniversary (and next year, we’ll commend it on its 114th.)
  • SR 10 (MORRISH): Designates November 2017 as School Psychologist Awareness Month.
  • SCR 7 (PEACOCK): Commends Fairfield Elementary Magnet School of Shreveport on receipt of the 2016-2018 National Parent Teacher Association School of Excellence Award.
  • SCR 33 (PEACOCK): Designates May 17, 2017, as Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma (DIPG) Awareness Day. (If ANYONE knows what DIPG is….don’t tell us. We’ll wait until May 17.)
  • HR 66 (PRICE): Commends the White Castle High School boys’ basketball team upon winning the Class 1A State Championship
  • HR 20 (PUGH):  Designates Tuesday, May 23, 2017, as Elmer’s Candy Day
  • HR 8 (SCHEXNAYDER): Commends the athletes and coaches of the Lutcher High School girls’ powerlifting team upon winning the 2017 Division III state championship
  • HR 42 (SCHEXNAYDER): Commends the Riverside Academy football team upon winning the 2016 Division III state championship
  • HR 49 (SCHEXNAYDER):  Commends the Lutcher High School Bulldogs football team upon winning the 2016 Class 3A state championship
  • SCR 28 (GARY SMITH): Commends Cara Ursin on winning the Louisiana Gatorade Player of the Year award for Girls’ Basketball three times.
  • SCR 29 (GARY SMITH): Commends the Destrehan High School Lady Cats on winning the LHSAA Class 5A state girls’ basketball championship.
  • HR 2 (PATRICIA SMITH HAYNES): Designates Tuesday, April 11, 2017, as AKA day at the state capitol
  • SR 18 (THOMPSON): Designates April 27, 2017, as FFA Day at the Louisiana State Capitol and commends the state officers of the Louisiana FFA Association.
  • SR 6 (WALSWORTH):  Designates April 12, 2017, as Y Day in Louisiana. (Why Y?)

Read Full Post »

Another Jindal ‘reform’ fails legal smell test as Baton Rouge Judge strikes down changes to Workers Compensation laws

Posted in Contract, Contracts, Courts, Ethics, Governor's Office, Lawsuits, Legislature, Legislators, Office of Workers' Comp, Politicians on April 4, 2017| 9 Comments »

Bobby Jindal and former Director of the Louisiana Office of Workers Compensation (OWC) Wes Hataway are gone but a court decision late last month could represent a legal smack down of the way workers’ compensation claims have been handled since July 13, 2011, Jindal’s third year in the governor’s office.

The ruling by 19th Judicial District Judge Don Johnson takes direct aim at a law pushed through the Louisiana Legislature and which set up new medical treatment guidelines for injured workers which plaintiffs said violated the due process clauses of the state and federal constitutions.

In his WRITTEN REASONS FOR JUDGMENT, Judge Johnson struck down provisions which:

  • Stipulated that when a carrier/self-insured employer fails to return LWC forms within the five business days it is deemed to have denied such request for authorization;
  • Provided an automatic “tacit denial” of medical treatment;
  • Allowed OWC to enforce variances from medical treatment guidelines;
  • Denied treatment not covered by medical treatment guidelines;
  • Allowed the OWC a workers compensation carrier to arbitrarily submit—and the OWC medical director to accept—any information it desires without notifying the injured worker of the “evidence.”

The suit was brought against the Louisiana Workforce Commission (LWC) in 2013 by attorney Janice Hebert Barber and several physicians and injured workers who were denied benefits under the new law. Baton Rouge attorney J. Arthur Smith III represented each of the plaintiffs. Also named as defendants were LWC Secretary Curt Eysink, Hataway, and former OWC Medical Director Dr. Christopher Rich.

Barber said the regulations also discriminate against injured workers in that:

  • Medical benefits were denied to injured workers because their physicians could not return calls from Rich’s staff as quickly as they liked;
  • One request for medical treatment was denied because the injured worker’s attorney submitted too many pages of records to Rich;
  • Another request for treatment was denied because the case itself was 12 years old;
  • Numerous requests for treatment were denied because Rich claimed they were submitted by “bad doctors” who were “bad” only because they were too favorable to their patients, in Rich’s opinion;
  • Requests for medical procedures were denied on the basis of who owned the medical equipment which would be utilized for the procedure;
  • As of December 2012, Medical Director Rich had approved only 14 percent of all requests for medical treatment of injured workers in cases where compensability had already been determined;
  • Rich had denied requests for medical treatment in cases in which he never even spoke to the claimants;
  • Hataway repeatedly engaged in ex parte communications with attorneys and others representing workers compensation insurance carriers and self-insured employers;
  • Hataway and his staff repeatedly expressed the Jindal administration’s “positions” on issues to be litigated by workers compensation judges to the judges themselves.

Barber said in her lawsuit that the new regulations had “enriched workers’ compensation insurance carriers and has harmed injured workers in Louisiana.” She claimed that under the new regulations, the Louisiana Workers’ Compensation Corporation (LWCC), the state’s largest workers’ compensation carrier, more than doubled premium dividend payments to Louisiana employers than were paid the year before the new law went into effect.

When Jindal named his four nominees to the University Medical Center Management Corp. Board back in March of 2010, he not only was looking after some of his more generous campaign contributors, but he also placed one of them in a position of potential conflict of interest.

At the time of his appointment as medical director, Dr. Christopher Rich of Alexandria currently held three separate contracts with the state totaling more than $3.3 million and he had already run into ethical problems with one of those contracts.

Rich also was named by Jindal as one of four nominees for the proposed billion-dollar University Medical Center that was to serve as a replacement for the 70-year-old facility that was closed after its basement was flooded during Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

Like many of Jindal’s high-profile appointees, Rich, his wife Vickie and business partner Dr. Mark Dodson, also of Alexandria, combined to contribute $9,500 to Jindal’s campaigns in 2007, 2010 and 2011.

Rich had a $516,646 contract to serve as Medical Director of the Office of Workers’ Compensation (OWC) Administration that called on him to approve or disapprove medical treatments and procedures for the Office of Workers’ Compensation.

That contract is actually to Chrickie Investments, a company owned by him and his wife.

In 2009, the Louisiana Legislature passed a law which changed the process for determining whether or not medical treatment was “medically necessary.” If a workers’ comp insurance company denies a treatment request, the denial is referred to the OWC medical director, in this case, Rich.

Though the law was passed in 2009, problems with implementing the rules to enforce the new law delayed the actual enactment date of the law until July 13, 2011.

Rich testified before the House Labor Committee that he was “denying 80 percent” of all treatment requested.

At the same time he was contracted to be the sole determiner of all medical treatment for Louisiana’s injured workers, he and Dodson were partners in Louisiana Ortho Services which held a $2.3 million contract to provide orthopedic services for the state, specifically Huey P. Long Medical Center.

Huey P. Long Medical Center (HLMC) at the time was one of 10 state hospitals that made up the LSU Health Care System which is administered by the LSU Board of Supervisors which also oversees the University Medical Center Management Board on which Rich sits. HLMC was subsequently shut down by the Jindal administration.

Because he also owned an interest in Central Louisiana Surgical Hospital which also provided medical treatment to injured workers, the question of his eligibility to make decisions on medical treatment which could financially impact the hospital as well as Mid-State came before the Louisiana Board of Governmental Ethics on separate occasions.

In March 2011, the ethics board ruled that Rich was prohibited, in his capacity as Medical Director of the Office of Workers’ Compensation, from participation in any matter involving Central Louisiana Surgical Hospital.

In January 2012, however, a second opinion said there was no conflict since he had terminated his relationship with Mid-State—only six months since the state had awarded Louisiana Ortho, that $2.3 million contract. Though he no longer is affiliated with Mid-State, he remains a partner in Louisiana Ortho with Dodson who in turn remains as a partner with Mid-State. The timing and the connections, to say the least, are curious.

Rich and Dodson also were partners in a company called ACTIVEMED, Inc., which held a $523,000 contract to provide orthopedic medical services to Northwestern State University student athletes.

Activemed also provided secondary insurance, also known as a preferred provider network (PPN) for two Louisiana university college sports teams and athletes. Basically, the athletes’ primary health insurance is the first payor for sports-related injuries. Then, if the student treats with an Activemed provider and they are enrolled with Activemed, then Activemed picks up the tab for the remainder of the treatment.

This means that Drs. Rich and Dodson had direct control over which doctors Activemed refers injured students to and if those same doctors happen to treat any Louisiana workers’ compensation patients, there existed a potential conflict of interest for Rich.

Activemed’s internet web page contains no list of medical providers, nor is Activemed listed under the Louisiana Department of Insurance either as an insurance company, a third party administrator (TPA), or an adjusting company.

Read Full Post »

Remember the Edmonson Amendment of 2014 that boosted his retirement? It’s baaaack and he’ll get his $50,000 bump

Posted in Ethics, Legislature, Legislators, Retirement, State Police on March 27, 2017| 26 Comments »

It must be nice when you can get the rules written just for you.

There must come a time when even the most disinterested, blasé, apolitical person living has to look up from whatever else occupies his interest and say, “Wait a damned minute. This just ain’t right and we’re not gonna do it.”

Or, as Peter Finch as Howard Beale in the classic movie Network would say: “I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore!”

Just when you think you heard the last of Mike Edmonson, the erstwhile Superintendent of State Police, he comes back to haunt us and taunt us.

Remember way back in 2014 when LouisianaVoice first made you aware of SB 294, signed into law by Bobby Jindal as ACT 859? The bill, authored by Sen. Jean-Paul J. Morrell (D-New Orleans),  appeared only to deal with procedures for formal, written complaints made against police officers.

But thanks to a little back room deal between Edmonson Chief of Staff Charles Dupuy and State Sen. Neil Riser (R-Columbia and an announced candidate for State Treasurer), a last-minute amendment was tacked onto that bill that, contrary to verbal assurances to legislators that the bill would cause no financial impact, would have actually given Edmonson an additional $50,000 or so in retirement income.

Thanks to a timely anonymous letter informing us of the amendment, we were able to break the story and the resulting furor over that was such that State Sen. Dan Claitor (R-Baton Rouge) filed suit in 19th Judicial District Court to block the raise that Edmonson was already being forced to disavow. District Court Judge Janice Clark threw out the law.

Why?

Because Edmonson voluntarily and of his own free will chose some years earlier to lock his retirement in at $76,000 by entering into the state’s Deferred Retirement Option Plan (DROP) while he was still at the rank of captain. That decision, which is considered irrevocable, locked in his retirement at a rate based on his captain’s pay while netting him a higher salary at the time.

But now he’s back and because of a rather complicated quirk in the law—applicable, apparently, only to State Police—it appears he will get that extra retirement income after all—not $76,000 as dictated by his decision to enter DROP way back when, but $128,559, according to Jim Mustian’s Baton Rouge ADVOCATE online story.

Here is the way Retirement says it’s calculated, according to one retired Trooper:

Act 1160 relative to the re-computation of the pre-DROP benefit and the pre-DROP final average compensation applies to you if (1) you participated in DROP on or before June 30, 2001, 2) continued in state police employment after participation in DROP without a break in service, and (3) remained in such continuous employment on or after July 1, 2001. These special provisions do not apply to members who retired on or before July 1, 2001.

If You Entered DROP With 25 Years or More of Hard State Trooper Service:

Pre-DROP Benefit – If you meet the criteria set forth in (1), (2), and (3) above, and you entered DROP with 25 years or more of hard state trooper service, you are eligible for a re-computation of your pre-DROP benefit at 3 1/3% multiplied by the number of years of service to your credit prior to your effective date of participation in DROP, and further multiplied by your final average salary as computed when you entered DROP.

Post-DROP Benefit – Your post-DROP benefit will be calculated at 31/3% multiplied by the number of years of service to your credit after DROP participation, and further multiplied by your final average compensation. The final average compensation used will be the average determined at the beginning of DROP, or, a new current final average if you worked for an additional 12 or 36 months (based on your hire date).

If You Entered DROP With Less Than 25 Years of Hard State Trooper Service:

Pre-DROP Benefit – If you meet the requirements stated above and you entered DROP with less than 25 years of hard state trooper service, you may also be eligible for a re-computation of your final average compensation based on your hard 25th year of trooper service (or your highest 12-month average if you have not reached your 25th year) for the purpose of determining your new pre-DROP benefit. This re-computation of the final average salary will be based on any 12-month period of service (but limited to the first 25 years) while a member of LSPRS regardless of hire date.

Post-DROP Benefit – Your Post-DROP benefit will be calculated at 3 1/3% multiplied by the number of years of service to your credit after DROP participation, and further multiplied by the greater of 1) your final average salary as determined when we recomputed your pre-DROP benefit, or 2) your current final average compensation based on a 12-month average regardless of hire date.

The sum of any re-computed pre and post DROP retirement benefit shall not exceed 100% of your current final average compensation.

For purposes of determining the average compensation based on the first 25 years, (1) “state trooper service” does not include military service purchased, actuarially transferred service, or reciprocally recognized service, or any form of purchase of service credit, and (2) “average salary” does not include overtime, expenses, clothing allowances, or any remuneration resulting from military service.

If you are eligible for a re-computation under Act 1160, this does not change the amounts credited to your DROP account. The re-computation is for the monthly benefit amount you receive upon retirement only.

Got it?

Didn’t think so.

But the overriding question that’s impossible shake is this: If this rule existed, why was it necessary back in 2014 to try and sneak the benefit increase through the legislature as an amendment to an otherwise harmless bill?

Something doesn’t pass the smell test here and when you take a look at the makeup of the State Police Retirement System’s Board of TRUSTEES, six of whom are either active or retired State Troopers, the odor doesn’t get any better.

The bottom line here is this:

Whether or not special provisions are in place for State Troopers to circumvent the irrevocable provisions of DROP, if the State Police Retirement System’s Board of Trustees goes forward with giving Edmonson this $128,559, every single state employee who ever opted to enter DROP at any time should retain legal counsel and go after the additional retirement funds to which he or she is entitled.

 

Read Full Post »

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »