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House Labor Leads Thursday’s Watchlist
As we told you in our Week Ahead on Monday, a new round of workers’ compensation legislation is up today in the House Labor Committee, continuing the push to address the high costs and inefficiencies in Louisiana’s WC system. Five of those measures—four of which we support—are on LABI’s radar. We’ll detail a few below.
LABI is supporting HB 357 by Rep. Michael Echols (R-Monroe) which proposes to reform Louisiana’s obsolete and unbalanced worker’s comp medical fee schedule. It directs the assistant secretary for the Office of Workers’ Compensation to consider multiple criteria and develop a fee schedule that is reasonable when compared to other states. LABI supports the bill as another opportunity to remove the outlier tag from Louisiana’s worker’s compensation system.
HB 537 by Chairman Raymond Crews (R-Bossier City), mirrors legislation that cleared the Senate just yesterday. The bill repeals the long-dormant Workers’ Compensation Advisory Council, an outdated entity that has not met in years and no longer serves a meaningful role. Eliminating the inactive council is a simple and straightforward way to reduce unnecessary government overhead.
HB 780 by Rep. Gabe Firment (R-Pollock), takes a two-pronged approach by consolidating the current standards for punitive attorney fees, raising the threshold for when those fees can be awarded in workers’ compensation courts. This legislation will help reduce unnecessary legal exposure for employers, and remove technical barriers that have been used to sidestep preliminary determination hearings. These hearings are designed to deliver faster resolutions and provide “safe harbor” protections for employers who comply. By reinforcing their use, HB 780 helps ensure disputes are resolved more quickly—meaning injured workers can receive decisions and benefits sooner, while also lowering litigation costs across the system.
This is as a practical step towards a more efficient, balanced workers’ compensation resolution process.