Appreciate the legislators asking very good questions about all of this. But, at the end of the day, it will be Tim Temple and, to a lesser extent, Jeff Landry (via bully pulpit agenda setting) who will make the decision.* So... the deal guarantees Temple a seat on the board of the new entity created by the sale. And Landry gets this.
They called special attention to a curious provision in the plan to create Accelerate Louisiana, which will be a $3 billion foundation focused on addressing poverty and health inequity in the state. The provision prohibits the foundation from giving money for health research purposes to any higher education institution in the state except the Pennington Biomedical Research in Baton Rouge.
“You have $3.1 billion and the only institution that can receive funding is Pennington?” asked Sen. Adam Bass, R-Bossier City. “Why is that?”
Tim Barfield, a former Blue Cross member who is now board chair of the Accelerate Louisiana Initiative, said the stipulation was a condition imposed by Gov. Jeff Landry and his staff.
“That was a requirement of the attorney general, now governor,” Barfield said.
*Blue Cross policy holders also have to vote on the sale but that may be, in the bag, so to speak.
Lawmakers also grilled Blue Cross about potential irregularities in the voting process and the way proxies are being collected. Under questioning, Blue Cross officials acknowledged that the same outside firm tabulating proxy votes is also soliciting members by phone to make sure they vote.
“The same group that can take a proxy vote over the phone is the same group calling to say, ‘Did you get your ballot?’” said Republican Sen. Thomas Pressly of Shreveport. “I am blown away.”
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