Several months ago, governor-elect Jeff Landry initiated an investigation into the proposed selling of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana. According to reports, Landry requested that the sale be delayed, resulting in Blue Cross to temporarily halt its initial plan to sell Elevance Health of Indiana.

The potential sale of Blue Cross would affect the nearly 40% of Louisiana’s population who receive health care through them. Landry formed a confidential advisory group to counsel him on the estimated $2.5 billion dollar sale. Members of this group were instructed to keep all meetings confidential and not speak to the public. However, a spokesperson for Blue Cross and Blue Shield confirmed that the organization was in fact participating in the advisory group but Landry’s administration declined to comment on the groups activities.

The group likely consists of at least four members: CEO of LCMC Health Greg Feirn, executive director of the Louisiana Rural Hospital Association Jerry Phillips, Blue Cross board member Tim Barfield and Bruce Greenstein, an executive at the LHC Group. Two of these members, Barfield and Greenstein, were former members of the cabinet under former Governor Bobby Jindal.

Greenstein formerly ran the Louisiana Department of Health but was fired by Jindal after he was accused of behaving inappropriately during during a Medicaid contract bid. In 2014, Greenstein was charged by a grand jury after lying under oath regarding his communications with a former employer who was applying for Louisiana’s Medicaid contract. He is now serving as a member of this advisory board, as well as the health care and hospital advisory board under Landry’s transition team alongside Feirn. Barfield previously worked as the head of the Louisiana Department of Revenue and is expected to lead the new foundations board should this sale go through.

State lawmakers and other leaders in the health care field have questioned the specifics of what the new foundation would do with its resources from the sale. Logistics regarding payouts to policyholders versus putting more money towards a brand new nonprofit foundation are also being discussed.

Many stakeholders are seeking answers regarding the groups activities and what will become of the health care program. Cindy Wakefield, a spokesperson for Blue Cross, released a statement, “At the request of Attorney General Landry, we have met with a number of stakeholders to seek input on, and to answer questions about our proposed transaction with Elevance Health. We believe those discussions have been very productive.” However, she announced that they still were not able to discuss specific details surrounding this issue, claiming that they had plans to address any further questions or concerns when the time is right.