The East Baton Rouge Metro Council hopes to persuade more public service retirees to switch to a government-funded health care plan it offers to help make up for a $21 million budget shortfall.
The budget gap comes after a large part of East Baton Rouge Parish broke away from the city of Baton Rouge to form the city of St. George last year, taking a crucial chunk of funding through taxes with it. COVID-era American Rescue Plan Act dollars that were funding necessary programs also dried up, widening the gap further.
To help fill it, officials will ask their 2,800 retirees, 1,800 of whom are actively using insurance from the parish, to move from private insurance coverage paid for by the parish to a plan under Medicare Advantage, a private version of the public health care plan that covers older adults and people with disabilities.…