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House approves captive insurance bill to expand options for businesses facing high commercial insurance costs
Summary
Lawmakers passed House Bill 6 35 to authorize and regulate domestic captive insurance companies, modeled on other states' law; supporters said the change gives businesses more tools to manage rising premiums.
Representative Joseph Bamberger presented House Bill 6 35, a measure to authorize and regulate domestic captive insurance companies in Louisiana. "HB 6 35 is a bill supported by the Department of Insurance that regulates the formation and operation of domestic captive insurance companies in Louisiana," Bamberger told the chamber, describing the measure as model legislation adapted from Vermont.
Sponsors and Department of Insurance staff said captive insurers — entities created by businesses or groups of businesses to underwrite their own risk — can provide alternative coverage options for companies that face high premiums or limited commercial-market availability. The sponsor argued that captive insurance options can give employers, especially commercial auto and specialty-risk policyholders, more control over underwriting and loss-prevention measures.
The bill includes standard regulatory safeguards: capital and surplus requirements, confidentiality of certain records with specified public-records exceptions, periodic examination by the Department of Insurance, and fees and reporting obligations. The sponsor offered a technical amendment clarifying the interplay between the Department of Insurance and the Secretary of State on formation and filing procedures and extended certain filing windows (moving a 30‑day reference to 45 days in a rate-related filing process).
Representative Bamberg told members that he and the DOI worked through drafting language to ensure clarity and consumer protections. "These have been in place in Vermont for multiple years and have created a healthy and sustainable option for business markets in their state," he said, asking members to adopt the bill.
The House adopted the amendments and passed the bill on a recorded vote. The clerk’s tally recorded 98 yeas and 1 nay. Proponents said the statutory framework establishes regulatory oversight while enabling more options for businesses to manage commercial insurance costs; opponents recommended careful DOI oversight to ensure solvency and consumer protections.
With House passage the measure now goes to the next legislative steps; sponsors noted that Department of Insurance rulemaking and administrative oversight will define many of the operational details for captives that choose to form in Louisiana.
