Days after a council member torpedoed the same vote , the East Baton Rouge Metro Council approved an insurance plan switch Monday that members hope will save the city-parish between $16 million to $19 million annually.

Last Wednesday, Darryl Hurst's council colleagues ripped into him when he used his lone dissenting vote to kill an initiative to switch city employee and retiree health plans. Only seven members were in attendance, the same number of members it takes to pass a measure on the 12-person council.

On Monday, Hurst again was the only member to vote against the measure, as it passed 11-1.

Hurst said he is concerned that employees would be forced to switch specialists for medical coverage. He gave an example of someone battling cancer with nontraditional treatments that only

See Full Page