Sen. Sarah Myers’ workers’ comp overhaul reported out of House Labor committee after heated debate

Sen. Sarah Myers’ workers’ compensation modernization bill, Senate Bill 408, was reported with amendments by the House Committee on Labor and Industrial Relations on Wednesday after extended debate and testimony.

Myers told the committee SB 408 is intended to move the state ‘‘from paper and fax machines’’ to a modern system that gets injured workers back to work faster, creates a fair and predictable medical fee schedule, targets ‘‘outliers and abusers’’ on both sides of the system, and provides transparent data through an all-claims medical and pharmacy database. ‘‘None of us in our own businesses would be making decisions without data,’’ Myers said, arguing the database is central to future fee-schedule decisions.

The committee first adopted a technical amendment set and then considered a larger amendment package (amendment set 5502) offered by Rep. Mallory that folded portions of House bills into SB 408. Rep. Mallory said the package was intended to create an omnibus fix so the state ‘‘does it once’’ rather than returning year after year. Mallory moved adoption of the set; a roll call recorded yes votes from Chairman Cruz, Rep. Bamberg, Vice Chair Horton, Rep. Mallory and others, and the chair announced the amendments were adopted.

The amendment set, and later committee-originated changes, touched on a range of provisions: changes to preliminary-determination timelines (for example, some windows are expanded from seven to ten business days and shorter deadlines reduced in other places), an increase in temporary total disability from three years to four in the amendment set, and the addition and removal of various fraud-related provisions. Brian Blackwood of Louisiana Works described some technical timing changes and confirmed the bill retains business-day calculations in several places.

Proponents said the all-claims database will fill a ‘‘black hole’’ in data about ambulatory surgery centers, paid amounts and timing, which they said is necessary to craft a defensible fee schedule. ‘‘If this bill does nothing but add transparency to the system, it is a huge success,’’ testified Al Tanase, representing interventional pain physicians.

Opponents and injured-worker advocates urged caution about the expanded package. Trey Mustian, representing injured workers, urged the committee to pass SB 408 ‘‘clean’’ and warned that folding in other bills could act as a ‘‘poison pill.’’ Shannon Lindsey and another injured-workers advocate pressed lawmakers on provisions that they said would require unrepresented claimants to file legal motions within short, technical windows — a step they said would disadvantage rural and pro se claimants. Lindsey warned that many claimants are not represented by counsel and that requirements to file rule-to-show-cause motions ‘‘is an impossibility’’ for many individuals.

In response to concerns, the sponsor and other members proposed committee-originated corrections in concept, including removing the word "potential" where it conflicted with mandatory language and deleting selected fraud provisions from the amendment set. The committee adopted those corrections in concept and staff will reduce the changes to writing.

On timing, the bill as amended sets several implementation milestones, according to committee testimony: data reporting would begin in 2027, electronic billing by mid‑2027, and fee-schedule rulemaking beginning in mid‑2028; the department would gather data over roughly two years before proposing a fee schedule for committee review.

After final remarks from proponents and the department, the committee moved to report SB 408 with amendments. A roll call recorded yes votes from Chairman Cruz, Rep. Bamberg, Rep. Glorioso, Vice Chair Horton, Rep. Miller, Rep. Tarver and Rep. Wilder; recorded no votes included Rep. Chasson, Rep. Barbadine and Rep. Mena. The chair announced SB 408 was reported with amendments and will proceed through the legislative process with the amended language.

Next steps: committee staff will prepare the exact amendment language reflecting the committee-originated conceptual fixes; the administration and Louisiana Works will continue implementation planning; and the bill will continue through the Senate/House reconciliation steps as required.