Kennedy talks budgets, health care

When John Kennedy, treasurer for the state of Louisiana, spoke at the Rotary Club of Crowley’s weekly meeting Tuesday, he explained he was an open to talk about anything, except for one thing.
“I’ll talk about anything you want except who the LSU football coach is, because I’m tired of hearing about that,” joked Kennedy.
With that out of the way, Kennedy focused on what is really going on in Louisiana, listening to concerns and reiterating how tired he was of the way things have occurred in Louisiana.
“If you think government is bad from the outside, you oughta see it from the inside,” he said.
Never one to be part of the crowd, according to Kennedy, he has continued to distance himself from many in power in Louisiana, but is preparing to back those willing to make sacrifices to get the job done for Louisiana’s future.
“You’re going to step on some toes, I can tell you that,” he said. “But that’s what leadership is all about.”
Really, though, the focus of Kennedy’s conversation was taxpayer money and how the funds are not being used in the best way possible. A large portion of that talk was spent on health care.
In a matter of 30 or so minutes – through both question and answer and comments from Kennedy – the treasurer breezed through plans that could save the state $1 billion. And, while $1 billion may not sound like a lot in a state with a $25 billion budget, it’s a start, especially as mid-year budget revisions are causing havoc — also, as he illustrated to the club, because one billion is a lot.
“Do you know how long it would take to count to a billion?” he asked.
The answer, if you count continuously for 24 hours per day, seven days per week and average one number per second: 32 years.
The problem for Louisiana is simple. Ten years ago, the state’s budget was $16.5 billion, now, it has seen an increase to $25 billion, but not an increase in revenue, as population hasn’t grown – people continue to not stay in Louisiana, particularly young people – among other problems.
The state, however, continues to spend more money than it takes in, a problem Kennedy says is not just a homegrown one as the country, too, continues that trend.
Kennedy said he doesn’t know what Louisiana’s future holds — he does believe it is getting better overall — but he also said he has a belief that state lawmakers will probably continue to raise taxes. But if the state continues to spend more than it takes in, the problems will continue.
Louisiana, as he explained, also has a problem with both staffing numbers in state government and the number of consulting contracts.
A legislative audit a few years ago found that roughly 22 percent of the managers in the classified part of government are only managing one employee. The average manager is in charge of four in state government.
“No business in the real world could staff at those levels and stay in business long,” said Kennedy.
Ideally, Kennedy would turn to an idea from 1995. It was then that the Secure Commission recommended a staffing chain of one manager for every 10 employees and reducing every department to no more than five layers of management at the most — preferably less.
“We have way too many generals and not enough foot soldiers,” he said.
Coupled with the number of consulting contracts – 19,000 – Louisiana’s spending problem only grows.
In the health care sector, there’s a completely different spending problem.
Pointing to Medicaid’s increasing cost, Kennedy said the line between compassion and cost is growing farther apart. While as a Christian he is proud that he lives in a country that feeds the hungry, puts a roof over the heads of homeless and treats the sick that cannot afford care, he also knows that it is important to care about the cost.
According to recent data, roughly 3 percent of Medicaid users account for 43 percent of the program’s cost.
Abuses of the program are a problem, certainly, but Kennedy said he knows there are also those in that 3 percent that are just very sick and need a lot of care.
It’s why he proposes looking at programs that have worked in other states, such as aggressive management of Medicaid patients in need – assigning a paraprofessional to the sick and needy to ensure they are taking medications, going to the doctor as needed and so on.
The other is having a paraprofessional access the patient’s needs that are brought to an emergency room. If the patient needs emergency care, then they are served, but if they go for something as routine as acne problems or an eye exam, than they are delegated to a private clinic.
And, if Louisiana’s elected leaders taking office in January are willing to do things of that nature, Kennedy is ready to stand with them.