DeSoto Parish board hears midyear Humana update; presenters project about $800,000 in net claim savings

Presenters to the DeSoto Parish School Board said the district’s midyear review of its Medicare Advantage transition shows material financial and service impacts.

Jason, who led the financial presentation, said the district moved 433 retirees and spouses onto the Medicare Advantage plan. He gave the district’s core estimate: by removing those beneficiaries from the self-funded plan, the district expects to avoid about $2.4 million in medical and drug claims while paying Humana roughly $1.3 million in fixed premiums. Jason said he also projected an estimated $266,000 in lost prescription-drug rebates tied to those retirees, leaving an approximate net claim savings near $800,000.

"Taking these people off the plan, we’re going to duck about $2.4 million in claims," Jason said. He explained the calculation included annualizing several months of claims experience for the moved retirees and estimating rebate reductions because those rebates will flow to government payors once beneficiaries are on the Medicare plan.

Rayma, who handled retiree outreach and customer-service contacts during rollout, said early call volumes were high but have fallen dramatically as issues were resolved. "We had 48 calls in December, 72 in January and then far fewer calls in the months after," Rayma said, describing a steep decline in repeat complaints once pharmacies and providers adjusted claims handling.

Presenters emphasized that the savings are primarily "hard" claim avoidance: retiming and shifting who pays for specific claims. They also described larger "soft" or accounting effects — for example, employer contributions collected through payroll that are not segregated in a distinct reserve and therefore do not represent immediately realizable cash savings even if long-term liabilities change.

Board members and staff asked clarifying questions about the prescription-rebate estimate and how the Humana customer-service work affected retirees. Jason and Rayma said they will continue to refine rebates and annualized estimates and will present additional scenarios on benefits and contributions by year-end to limit premium growth while preserving benefits.

Next steps: staff will continue to model scenarios for premiums and benefits, track actual claim experience through the plan year starting July 1, and return with detailed options before any further benefit changes.