House advances bill directing secretary to update workers' compensation medical fee schedule

Representative Echols asked the House to approve House Bill 117, a measure directing the state to update its workers' compensation medical reimbursement schedule and to authorize the assistant secretary to promulgate that schedule.

Supporters said the existing fee schedule has not been updated in decades and hampers access to providers. "This is a bill that we passed last year, exact same bill that would allow the secretary to establish an updated fee schedule for the state and reduce administrative burden by providers," Representative Echols said on the House floor.

The bill instructs the secretary to compare Louisiana to "similar regional states" and to produce a schedule intended to make reimbursement rates more competitive in the South. Echols told members…