WBRZ - Baton Rouge

Health care providers are worried about the Jindal administration's plans to make changes in the way health care for the poor is delivered.

Hospital and doctor groups are advising their members to be wary of signing onto the new insurance-based system. The head of the LSU hospital system and the president of the Louisiana Hospital Association told The Advocate that the changes could cost Louisiana hundreds of millions of dollars in lost federal health care funds.

The plan calls for "community-care networks" in three areas of the state by April.

A majority of the state's Medicaid recipients would get health coverage through private insurance companies. The Jindal administration says the program will better coordinate patient care and reduce health care costs by keeping people healthier and out of hospitals.