Ochsner LSU Well being defends Shreveport medical insurance plans

SHREVEPORT, La. (KTAL/KMSS) – One of many area’s largest healthcare suppliers weighed in Friday on the controversy over Metropolis of Shreveport’s medical insurance protection plans for workers and retirees.

Ochsner LSU Well being performs a significant function within the area’s well being care. Because the Metropolis of Shreveport debates a new healthcare plan for its workers and retirees, Chief Medical Officer Dr. Charles Fox desires to put to relaxation any misconceptions or fears folks might have concerning entry to the system’s medical doctors.

“Persons are not going to lose their relationships with their present supplier. I feel there was lots worry I heard on the conferences about folks having to lose that supplier relationship. That’s preserved. That’s not going away. The prices should not going to go up. The truth is there’s choices for the prices to go down,” mentioned Dr. Charles Fox.

The Well being Care Belief Fund Board has authorized an elective Medicare Benefit plan for retirees as a price financial savings choice for each sufferers and the town. The town council authorized it to maneuver ahead.

“The Medicare Benefit plan is principally an choice for these retirees and their households in the event that they want to be part of and have their care at Ochsner LSU. They’re some value variations once you have a look at the completely different plans, and also you select to take part in. The excellent news is for these in an present plan that the price of that plan will not be going to vary. It’s not going to go up. You’re not going to lose that protection. However if you wish to change to a distinct well being care system, you will have that choice. There are some price variations between the completely different choices that could be interesting to some people and possibly to not others relying on what your well being care wants are at that time in your life.”

Because the Well being Care Belief Fund Board develops a brand new general plan, Ochsner LSU Well being is supportive of the Tier One plan proposed for 2023.

“Tier One, the pricing on that might be barely lower than the opposite two tiers,” Dr. Fox mentioned.

He mentioned underneath the tiered plan, sufferers receiving care at any of the methods or unbiased suppliers will see little to no price enhance. The proposed plan is rather like the present plan besides those that select Tier One pays much less, plus the town pays much less, the tiers should not mutually unique, and sufferers can go to completely different medical doctors in numerous tiers.

“The entire goal of the belief fund’s proposal to the town council is to create extra choices for people. Extra selections. I feel we’ve three nice well being care methods within the metropolis and we discovered that some folks use one or the opposite, and so they need to protect that alternative, and the excellent news is that’s preserved by all these various things which are being preserved,” Dr. Fox mentioned.

The Well being Care Belief Fund Board will deliver the brand new plan to the town council, which has 15 days to ratify it or ship it again to the board.