ADVOCATE THE
T H E A D V O C AT E.C O M
BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA
|
T u e s d ay, M a r c h 11, 2025
$2.00X
La. oversight of Medicaid criticized Audit questions spending for $2.4B program BY STEPHANIE RIEGEL Staff writer
The Louisiana Department of Health failed to properly oversee some $2.4 billion in Medicaid spending aimed at improving the health of the state’s neediest patients, according to a new report from the Louisiana Legislative
Auditor’s Office. The report, released Monday, found that over the past five years, the state’s Managed Care Incentive Program, which turned to Ochsner Health and a consortium that includes LSU Health New Orleans, LCMC Health and Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady Health System to run the program,
spent more than half the money on administrative expenses and other costs that did not have a measurable impact on patient health outcomes. “The sole focus of this program was to improve the health outcomes of Medicaid beneficiaries but that’s not happening,” Legislative Auditor Mike Waguespack
said in an interview Monday. “The funds are not making it all the way down to the hospitals that are doing the work.” The issues identified with the Managed Care Incentive Program, or MCIP, which was designed to increase Medicaid patients’ access to preventive medical care, improve management of chronic diseases and offer other services, underscored the challenges Louisiana faces as it tries to improve
SIGNING ON
Belle of Baton Rouge hotel gets new name in advance of reopening
the health of its lowest-income residents. The state ranked 49th in health outcomes when the program went into effect in 2019 and has since slipped to 50th. Federal and state Medicaid funding in Louisiana was nearly $15 billion in 2024. While the MCIP program represents only 4.8% of that total, the report raises questions
ä See MEDICAID, page 4A
Education stipend program draws families Nearly 14,000 have signed up for scholarships
BY PATRICK WALL
Staff writer
Workers install the new sign on the west side of the Belle of Baton Rouge Hotel on Monday. BY TIMOTHY BOONE
Business editor
The Belle of Baton Rouge hotel is being rebranded as Bally’s Baton Rouge Hotel, the first step in a process to put the Bally’s name on the oldest casino in downtown Baton Rouge. Officials with Bally’s plan to go before the Louisiana Gaming Control Board in April and request that the casino be rebranded. If that move is approved, the property will be known as Bally’s Baton Rouge Casino & Hotel.
Workers started putting Bally’s signs on three sides of the hotel Monday morning, a process that will take much of the week. Reservations are already being accepted at the 242-room hotel, which is set to open March 31. The hotel has been closed since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic because of roof damage. There had been discussion of renaming the Belle to something that paid tribute to Catfish Town. But plans changed after Standard General, the largest Bally’s shareholder, acquired all of Bally’s and The Queen Casino & Entertainment,
STAFF PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON
which is the parent company of the Belle and downtown’s other casino The Queen. Standard General completed the $4.6 billion purchase of Bally’s and The Queen a month ago. Putting the casino under the master Bally’s brand makes sense, said Lauren Westerfield, a spokesperson for the casino company. “This helps us really solidify the presence of the Bally’s brand,” she said. Bally’s has 19 casinos across the U.S.
ä See SIGNING, page 4A
Nearly 14,000 eligible Louisiana families have signed up for the state’s new LA GATOR scholarship program since applications opened this month, according to new state data, suggesting that demand for the stipends will almost certainly exceed supply. The centerpiece of Gov. Jeff Landry’s education agenda, the new program will give tax dollars to eligible families to help pay for private-school tuition or approved expenses, such as tutoring, textbooks or special-education services. The application period, which started March 1 and runs through April 15, is being closely watched as an early indicator of public interest in the scholarships. Proponents are sure to point to the figures when state lawmakers convene next month to hammer out the state budget and decide on funding for programs, including LA GATOR. The initial application numbers show that “people across the entire state are interested” in the program and “looking for opportunities for their children,” said state Sen. Rick Edmonds, R-Baton Rouge, who chairs the Senate Education Committee and carried the LA GATOR bill last year. “I think that will catch legislators’ attention.” About 16,700 families have
ä See EDUCATION, page 4A
Officials wary of FEMA cuts strengths and failings and make agency with about 17,000 workDisaster agency recommendations for changes by ers. Some emergency officials and summer. A U.S. House committee members of Congress worry that under review by Trump hearing last week floated several the cuts to what they think is an administration ideas — including letting states already understaffed agency will
BY MARK BALLARD Staff writer
WASHINGTON — The Federal Emergency Management Agency may not close entirely — as President Donald Trump says he’s open to — but it appears the disaster relief agency is in for rearranging. Trump created a FEMA Review Council, which will convene in April, to report on the agency’s
WEATHER HIGH 77 LOW 50 PAGE 6B
carry more of the disaster burden. That would cause dramatic challenges for storm-prone Louisiana, which is particularly reliant on FEMA. Since 2003, Louisiana has received nearly $47 billion to recover from 28 disasters, according to a January Carnegie Endowment report. Meanwhile, Trump has cut FEMA’s budget and fired 200 probationary employees while trying to force out another 800 in an
weaken responses for future disasters. “I am deeply concerned about the Trump administration’s attack on FEMA and the dedicated public servants in emergency management at every level,” said Rep. Timothy Kennedy, D-N.Y. “The truth is that for decades, FEMA has come to the aid of the American public time and time again.
STAFF FILE PHOTO By CHRIS GRANGER
Roofing contractors install a temporary roof on a home in New Orleans East in 2021 as part of a program overseen by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to help ä See FEMA, page 5A homeowners recover from the damage caused by Hurricane Ida.
Business ......................6A Commentary ................5B Nation-World ................2A Classified .....................6D Deaths .........................3B Opinion ........................4B Comics-Puzzles .....3D-5D Living............................1D Sports ..........................1C
100TH yEAR, NO. 254