Louisiana
Louisiana Insurance Commission postpones hearing on Blue Cross sale until October
A crucial hearing on the proposed sale of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana to Elevance Health that was scheduled for next week has been postponed until early October, state regulators said Thursday.
The delay in the two-day hearing, which was scheduled to begin on Monday, came at the request of Blue Cross. The Baton Rouge-based health insurer told the Louisiana Department of Insurance it needed more time to address concerns about the $2.5 billion deal raised in an independent consultants’ report, according to David Caldwell, executive director of the department.
Blue Cross did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The postponement comes as political pressure is building to slow the approval of a deal first announced in January.
Blue Cross executives have said that the deal will allow the insurer, which covers 1.9 million people in Louisiana, to provide better services and combat ever-rising health care costs. Some policyholders and political leaders have raised concerns about the effect on customers, and how proceeds from the sale of the nonprofit to a large, publicly traded company will be divided between Blue Cross policyholders and a social welfare foundation that Blue Cross plans to create.
State lawmakers on a joint legislative insurance committee grilled Blue Cross officials for nearly six hours Wednesday about the terms of the deal and whether it is in the best interest of policyholders and the people of the state.
Requests for delays
Attorney General Jeff Landry, the current frontrunner in the race for governor, formally asked Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon Wednesday to delay the regulatory hearing, and also announced he is investigating it for possible antitrust violations.
Sen. Barrow Peacock, R-Bossier, followed up Thursday in a separate letter to Donelon, asking the commission to give Blue Cross policyholders and the public more time to evaluate the deal.
Caldwell said the department’s decision was not made in response to political pressure, though he acknowledged that “a little more time, to the extent it makes people more comfortable with this deal, is fine.”
Rather, Caldwell said, it’s because of issues raised in a report by an independent actuarial consulting firm the department hired to evaluate the deal.
Blue Cross has proposed giving a fraction of sale proceeds to policyholders. That group is made up of employers and some people who have purchased plans individually, and not every person in the state covered by Blue Cross.
The policyholders would receive $307 million, a figure that translates to about $3,000 per policyholder.
The rest will go to the foundation, Accelerate Louisiana, along with an additional $1 billion or so from Blue Cross reserves.
Blue Cross financial advisers, including investment banking firm Chaffe & Associates, determined the value of those voting rights.
But the report submitted to state insurance regulators takes issue with Chaffe’s findings, questioning the fairness of the deal and saying that policyholders “are being deprived of their rights” under their contract with Blue Cross.
The delay in the hearing means Blue Cross will also have to delay a vote of its shareholders, two-thirds of whom must approve the deal.
The new hearing date is Oct. 5-6.
Louisiana
Louisiana prisons routinely hold inmates past their release date, Justice Department argues
Louisiana’s prison system routinely holds inmates for weeks or months after they were supposed to be released from custody following the completion of their sentences, the U.S. Justice Department said in a lawsuit filed Friday.
The lawsuit against the state comes after a multi-year investigation into a pattern of “systemic overdetention” that violates inmates’ rights and costs taxpayers millions of dollars per year.
Since at least 2012, more than a quarter of the inmates scheduled to be released from Louisiana prisons have been held past their release dates, according to the DOJ.
LOUISIANA LAWMAKERS WEIGHING CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT THAT WOULD SEND MORE JUVENILE OFFENDERS TO ADULT JAILS
The Justice Department warned Louisiana officials last year that it may file a lawsuit against the state if it failed to fix the problems. Lawyers for the department argue that the state made “marginal efforts” to address the issues, noting that such attempts at a fix were “inadequate” and showed a “deliberate indifference” to the constitutional rights of inmates.
“[T]he right to individual liberty includes the right to be released from incarceration on time after the term set by the court has ended,” Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke said in a statement.
“To incarcerate people indefinitely … not only intrudes on individual liberty, but also erodes public confidence in the fair and just application of our laws,” the statement added.
Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry and state Attorney General Liz Murrill, both Republicans, attributed the problem to the “failed criminal justice reforms” pushed by “the past administration.”
“This past year, we have taken significant action to keep Louisianans safe and ensure those who commit the crime, also do the time,” Landry and Murrill said in a joint statement to The Associated Press. “The State of Louisiana is committed to preserving the constitutional rights of Louisiana citizens.”
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The two state officials also purported that the lawsuit is a last-ditch effort by President Biden, who leaves office next month, arguing that President-elect Trump’s incoming administration would not have pursued the case.
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Advocates have repeatedly challenged the conditions in Louisiana’s prison system, which includes Angola, the largest maximum-security prison in the nation, where inmates pick vegetables by hand on an 18,000-acre lot. The site was once the Angola Plantations, a slave plantation owned by Isaac Franklin and named after Angola, the country of origin for many of the enslaved people who worked there.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Louisiana
Army Black Knights Predicted to Beat Louisiana Tech in Independence Bowl
The Army West Point Black Knights came up short in their last game, as they lost their annual rivalry matchup against the Navy Midshipmen 31-13 to lose the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy.
But, their season is not yet over, as they will have a chance to finish things on a high note in the Independence Bowl against a new opponent; the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs.
Originally, the Black Knights were supposed to face off against the Marshall Thundering Herd, but a change had to be made after they experienced a mass exodus of players entering the transfer portal following a coaching change.
Based on records, the quality of the opponent would seem to have dropped off considerably. Marshall had 10 victories, while Louisiana Tech had only five.
But, Adam Rittenberg of ESPN still believes that this will be a competitive game in Shreveport, La. in the Bulldogs’ backyard. Louisiana Tech is in Ruston, La., 70 miles away from Shreveport.
He predicted that Army will sneak away with a 23-16 victory.
“he Bulldogs have half the number of wins as the Thundering Herd, but their defense can be very stingy at times, and will need to perform against Bryson Daily and the Black Knights. … Army is undoubtedly still smarting from the Navy loss, and top running back Kanye Udoh entered the portal. Louisiana Tech jumps ahead early behind quarterback Evan Bullock, but Army eventually takes control and grinds out a low-scoring win, its 12th on the season.”
Rittenberg pointed out that several of LA Tech’s defensive linemen have entered the transfer portal. Udoh just announced his transfer to Arizona State.
This has already been one of the best seasons in program history, as they reached the 11-win mark only one other time in 2018. But, an argument can be made this is their best season since it won its last national championship because it was not independent.
The Black Knights were a member of the American Athletic Conference, the first time since 1998-2004 that they weren’t independent as a member of Conference USA. They found a ton of success, going 8-0 in the regular season before defeating the Tulane Green Wave in the AAC Championship Game in West Point, New York.
Army has shown an ability to grind out wins, playing a physical style of football on both sides of the ball. Daily is the leader offensively, producing with his arm and legs at a high level.
He threw for 942 yards with nine touchdowns and only four interceptions, three of which came in the matchup against Navy. On the ground, he led the AAC with 283 carries, 1,532 yards and 29 scores.
His 29 rushing touchdowns were the most in the country, as he won the 2024 AAC Player of the Year Award.
The Black Knights would love to see Daily provide one more memorable performance to help the team reach the 12-win mark for the first time in program history.
Louisiana
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