BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - The East Baton Rouge Parish school system may end offering supplemental health insurance to almost 2,700 retired employees. The Advocate reports the move would save the school system an estimated $8.7 million a year
Instead, the School Board is considering paying money into Medicare for retirees.
The school system is trying to keep its self-insured employee medical coverage program in the black.
If approved, the changes would take effect Jan. 1.
The school board discussed the complicated shift at its June 21 meeting and held a special meeting Thursday night in hopes of reaching out to retirees concerned about the possibility of higher out-of-pocket expenses.
"This is really an informational session," School Board President Barbara Freiberg told a small audience of about 25 people Thursday.
"There is a misconception out there that this is a big increase, but it may be a big benefit."
The president of the East Baton Rouge Federation of Retired Teachers, Wendell Mack, expressed concern about the changes after hearing the presentation.
"I worked for 40-something years and now you're pushing me out," he said.
The board is planning to vote on the item at its July 19 regular meeting.
If the board rejects the shift to Medicare, it likely would have to increase out-of-pocket costs for the nearly 10,000 people who use the coverage.
The school system recently approved almost $29 million in cuts to its general operating budget for fiscal year 2012-13, which starts Sunday.
It's the fourth consecutive year of budget cuts and more are anticipated in the future.