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Louisiana Workers’ Compensation Reimbursement Overhaul Dies in Senate Committee

ASCA and LASCA advocated against the proposed legislation

BY STEPHEN ABRESCH | MAY 31, 2024

ASCA, in partnership with the Louisiana Ambulatory Surgery Center Association (LASCA), opposed Louisiana HB 863, which proposed a new workers’ compensation reimbursement schedule in the state. ASCA and LASCA’s advocacy paid off, and earlier this month, the sponsor of HB 863, Representative Michael Echols, requested to defer the bill in the state’s Senate Committee on Labor and Industrial Relations. This voluntary deferment likely ends this session’s legislative push to overhaul workers’ compensation reimbursements in the state.

Introduced in April 2024, HB 863 would have required the promulgation of a new workers’ compensation reimbursement schedule to be based on similar characteristics of reimbursement schedules in surrounding states. The bill did not establish what “characteristics” the new reimbursement schedule should focus on.

ASCA and LASCA opposed the notion that Louisiana’s current reimbursement system for ASCs is broken and launched multiple grassroots campaigns giving Louisiana ASCs the opportunity to push back on the proposal. ASCA’s own members wrote more than 1,200 letters in a month to members of the Louisiana House and Senate urging opposition to the proposal. The bill remains technically eligible for further consideration, though the sponsor acknowledged in committee that his measure did not have enough support to pass this year, which is why he requested that it be voluntarily deferred. The legislature is scheduled to adjourn sine die on June 3.

“We thank the members of the Louisiana Senate Committee on Labor and Industrial Relations for listening to the concerns of their constituents and our members,” said ASCA Chief Executive Officer Bill Prentice. “Our Louisiana membership and LASCA delivered a clear message that the workers’ compensation reimbursement system is not in crisis, and any changes must go through the existing rulemaking process that guarantees stakeholder input.”

LASCA Executive Director Cindy Bishop said, “We are grateful to ASCA for advocating alongside us to defeat this unneeded piece of legislation. The Louisiana ASC community advocated forcefully against this misguided proposal, and we are thankful to the Senate Committee on Labor and Industrial Relations for hearing our message.”

While HB 863 might be done for 2024, the threat of an overhaul of the state’s workers’ compensation reimbursement schedule still looms large. The Office of Workers’ Compensation Administration (OWCA) had already committed to forming a working group to update the reimbursement schedule regardless of what happened to HB 863, and the bill’s sponsor has promised to revisit the issue during the 2025 session if OWCA fails to promulgate a new reimbursement schedule during the interim.

Write Stephen Abresch with any questions.