HJBR Nov/Dec 2023

44 NOV / DEC 2023  I  HEALTHCARE JOURNAL OF BATON ROUGE   Healthcare Briefs (policyholder), we were voting ‘no’ on the sale.” Below is LSMS’s letter to James J. Donelon, commissioner, Louisiana Department of Insur- ance. The Commission received withdrawal notices from Elevance Health and BCBSLA after considerable pushback from concerned parties. “September 18, 2023 “James J. Donelon, Commissioner Louisiana Department of Insurance P.O. Box 94214 Baton Rouge, LA 70804 “Re: Elevance Health Acquisition of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Louisiana Dear Commissioner Donelon: “On behalf of Louisiana physicians and the patients we care for, I would like to express our collective apprehension related to the pending acquisition of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Louisi- ana (BCBSLA) by Elevance Health. For several months, we have all been told that ‘nothing will change’ or ‘its business as usual’ after the sale is completed. However, we believe that anything that occurs on a scale of this mag- nitude rarely happens without considerable change and lots of questions and concerns. As such, we have multiple concerns related to increased premiums, reduced benefits, and limited access to care for our patients. Additionally, we are acutely aware of what has transpired in other states where multiple law- suits have been filed with specific allegations of underpayment and inappropriate denials. These concerns are even more critical when you consider BCBSLA will transfer over 60% of the private health insurance market in our state from a home grown not for profit com- pany to a publicly traded one, where profits and shareholder value are cherished above all else. As the state that ranks last in every signif- icant health care metric, it would be detrimen- tal to put our patients’ health at risk to achieve exorbitant profits for a corporation. While we applaud your decision to delay any possible decision on the final approval of the proposed acquisition, we still believe this is happening too fast and should be delayed even further. We welcome the involvement and scrutiny of Attorney General Jeff Landry’s office, as well as, the United States Department of Justice, as the final decision of this sale will impact every single resident of Louisiana and the maximum amount of due diligence, and caution, should be exercised. At this time, the Louisiana State Medical Society, as one of the approximately ninety thousand policy holders, who owned an in force BCBSLA policy issued on January 23, 2023, and is considered a ‘voting member’ on the proposed plan of reorganization regard- ing the conversion from a mutual insurance company to a stock insurance company, will be voting ‘no’. “Sincerely, Richard J. Paddock, MD, president” Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center Honors Supporters, Outstanding Advocates Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center has awarded its three most prestigious awards to local lead- ers and organizations who have gone above and beyond to support the Cancer Center and its patients through philanthropy. They were recently celebrated at the Cancer Center’s “Our Commu- nity” celebration in Baton Rouge. Art Favre, co-founder and CEO of Performance Contractors and former Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center board chairman, was awarded the Hillar C. Moore, Jr., Memorial Outstanding Leadership Award. Each year, this award recognizes those whose service has made a significant and unique contribution to the cancer center’s philanthropic initiatives. For more than 15 years, Favre and his fam- ily have served as philanthropists and longtime ambassadors in support of Mary Bird Perkins. Their generous contributions have allowed the cancer center to invest in innovative technol- ogy, like the Gamma Knife Icon, a noninvasive and innovative radiosurgery technology for the treatment of primary brain tumors, brain metasta- ses, and other central nervous system conditions that has benefitted thousands of local patients. In 2021, the Favre family made a transformational gift to the cancer center that will make Mary Bird Perkins one of only a few sites in the United States and the only site in Louisiana to offer a break- through adaptive MRI-guided radiation therapy program. Roux for a Reason, a non-profit gumbo cook- off fundraiser based in Houma, was awarded the Louis D. Curet Memorial Volunteer Fundraiser Award. This award recognizes an individual, orga- nization, or foundation that has launched or led a significant philanthropic effort in support of Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center. Founded by friends, Ben Floyd and Ben Levy, the Roux for a Reason gumbo cook-off has raised more than $410,000 since it was first launched in 2017. Floyd and Levy were inspired to start this fundraising effort in memory of their fathers — both of whom succumbed to cancer. Thanks to funds raised by Roux for a Reason, Mary Bird Per- kins welcomed a full-time registered dietitian to the cancer center’s dedicated team in the Bayou Region. This staff member meets with every sin- gle patient who walks through the doors of the Terrebonne General | Mary Bird Perkins Can- cer Center and provides them with personal- ized nutritional guidance to help prepare them for the challenges they may encounter through treatment, at no additional cost. This service has been made possible through the generous sup- port of Roux for a Reason and the group’s dedi- cated volunteers and supporters. Ellen Sessions, a longtime Mary Bird Perkins supporter, was awarded the D. Jensen Holliday Memorial Community Service Award. The D. Jen- sen Holliday Memorial Community Service Award is presented annually to an individual whose vision and dedication have made a sustained and measurable difference in the fight against cancer. Sessions has served as a generous cancer cen- ter donor for nearly 20 years, but her support took on a new meaning in 2015 when she faced her own battle with cancer. After experiencing firsthand the exceptional care that all patients at Mary Bird Perkins receive, she decided to create a lasting legacy in honor of her treatment team by establishing the Ellen Chadwick Sessions Endowed Fund within Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Foundation. With a background working in the banking industry for 30 years, Sessions recently began serving as a volunteer in the development department, becoming an integral member of the cancer center’s fundraising team. “Here at Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center, we are blessed with extraordinary community leaders who have made it their mission to support their community through the work of our Cancer Cen- ter,” said Danielle Mack, vice president and chief development officer, Mary Bird Perkins Cancer