House Civil Law committee advances package of bills on insurance, medical-billing and comparative fault

The House Civil Law and Procedure Committee on Tuesday advanced a set of bills intended to change how courts and insurers handle personal‑injury claims, medical billing and fault allocation.

Committee members sent six bills to the House floor after debate ranging from brief procedural explanations to longer policy arguments and public testimony from insurance agents, business owners and state regulators.

Why it matters: Committee supporters said the measures are intended to reduce insurance costs by limiting inflated claims, improving pre‑suit transparency and aligning Louisiana with other states’ rules on fault and recoverable medical expenses. Opponents cautioned that some measures could unfairly limit recovery for injured people and noted the need to protect procedural fairness.

What the committee did

- Representative Gallet introduced House Bill 2 91, which the author described as a “cleanup bill” to maintain the two‑year prescriptive period for certain causes of action. The committee cleared the bill by unanimous consent and sent it to the floor.

- Representative DeWitt’s House Bill 4 34 would raise recovery thresholds for uninsured motorists, changing minimum recoverable limits for bodily injury and property damage. DeWitt told the committee the bill raises the bodily‑injury recovery threshold to $100,000 (from $15,000) and property‑damage recovery to $100,000 (from $25,000); technical amendments were adopted. The committee approved sending HB 4 34 to the floor (tally: 11 yays, 2 nays).

- Representative Mellerin’s House Bill 4 50 would overturn the so‑called Housley presumption used in some causation disputes. Mellerin said the bill would “undo that presumption and make it so that you have to prove every aspect of your allegation.” The committee cleared HB 4 50 for the floor by voice consent.

- Representative Henry’s House Bill 4 43 would require plaintiffs’ counsel to send written notice to defendants (as drafted, within 10 business days after retention) and included judge‑discretion sanctions for failures to comply; the committee adopted an amendment removing a requirement to notify the defendant’s insurer and then approved the bill on a roll call (tally: 11 yays, 4 nays). Department of Insurance staff described the notice as “10 business days” and said the notice is intended to include basic information (plaintiff name, attorney, accident location, nature of injuries).

- Representative Glorioso’s House Bill 34 would change what evidence juries may see about medical charges. Glorioso said the bill would allow triers of fact to see whether medical expenses were actually incurred or were inflated by billed amounts, and would let defendants introduce evidence about “amount paid” or other adjustments so juries are not shown only the billed figure. The committee adopted technical amendments and moved HB 34 to the floor (tally: 11 yays, 3 nays).

- Representative Cheniere’s House Bill 4 31 would replace Louisiana’s pure comparative‑fault rule with a modified comparative fault system that bars recovery if a plaintiff is 51% or more at fault. Cheniere said the change would align Louisiana with other states and could reduce frivolous claims and premiums. The committee approved HB 4 31 (tally: 11 yays, 4 nays).

Voices from the room

- Representative Gallet on HB 2 91: “House bill 2 91 is basically a cleanup bill… last session, we extended the prescriptive period for a right of action from 1 year to 2 years.”

- Representative DeWitt on HB 4 34: “This bill… raises the recovery bar for uninsured drivers involved in motor vehicle accidents from $15,000 to $100,000 for bodily injury and from $25,000 to $100,000 for property damage.”

- Representative Mellerin on HB 4 50: “It… says if you're gonna make an allegation that an injury was caused by an accident… you have to prove every aspect of your allegation.”

- Representative Henry on HB 4 43: “This bill… is simply about leveling the playing field for both sides — the defendant and the plaintiff — and both of their legal parties.”

- Adam Patrick, legislative liaison, Louisiana Department of Insurance, in committee: “It's 10 business days… the items that would be required to be in the notice are things like the plaintiff's name, the plaintiff attorney's name, the location of the accident, nature of the injuries. These are things that the plaintiff attorney would likely get within the first 10 minutes of consultation.”

- Representative Glorioso on HB 34: “We're not telling the plaintiff they have to use their health insurance. They can use any doctor they want, but that doctor has to charge a reasonable rate.”

- Representative Cheniere on HB 4 31: “This bill changes the pure comparative fault system to a modified comparative fault with a 51 bar for recovery.”

Close / next steps

All six bills were sent to the full House for consideration. Several authors said they expect to continue working with colleagues on technical cleanup amendments before floor debate. The committee’s actions advance the measures to the next stage, where additional amendments and debate are possible.

Votes at a glance

- HB 2 91 (Representative Gallet): moved to floor by unanimous consent (no roll call). - HB 4 34 (Representative DeWitt): moved to floor; roll call tally reported 11 yays, 2 nays. - HB 4 50 (Representative Mellerin): moved to floor by voice consent (no roll call noted). - HB 4 43 (Representative Henry): moved to floor after amendment; roll call tally reported 11 yays, 4 nays. - HB 34 (Representative Glorioso): moved to floor after technical amendments; roll call tally reported 11 yays, 3 nays. - HB 4 31 (Representative Cheniere): moved to floor as amended; roll call tally reported 11 yays, 4 nays.