In another contentious insurance debate, the Lafayette Parish School Board narrowly voted to keep its voluntary benefits administrator, dealing a blow to board member Jeremy Hidalgo, who had pushed for a competitive bidding process for the lucrative contract, The Current reports.
The board’s insurance committee had unsuccessfully fought Hidalgo’s efforts to have the system issue a request for proposals in the middle of an existing contract, but he was eventually able to muster a 6-3 vote from the full board in June to put out the RFP, the newspaper reports.
Board President Hannah Smith Mason and Hidalgo had sparred publicly at that June meeting, when Hidalgo urged the board to explore options for a different broker for its voluntary benefits program, which provides services such as dental, vision and life insurance, The Current reports.
“We are in the middle of an existing [annual] contract that can be renewed through 2027,” Mason said then of the contract with Hub International, addressing Hidalgo’s proposal. “We were told there were no performance issues, no service concerns and no operational challenges.”
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