INDReporter

Jindal pitches outsourcing to school board members

by Walter Pierce

Gov. Bobby Jindal is seeking to rally support from local school boards in his push to outsource a public employee health insurance plan.

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - Gov. Bobby Jindal is seeking to rally support from local school boards in his push to outsource a public employee health insurance plan.

The Jindal administration says it sent out a letter this week to school board members, describing the nearly $7 million in savings estimated for school systems by hiring a private company to run the health plan.

Jindal's proposed contract between the Office of Group Benefits and Blue Cross/Blue Shield is scheduled for a Friday vote in the House and Senate budget committees.

Last week, the vote was shelved when it became clear the proposal didn't have enough support to win passage. At the time, a school board leader said the governor's office had provided no information to the boards about their estimated savings from the contract.