Lafayette’s Sen. Brach Myers Leads Landmark Workers’ Compensation Reform
For Louisiana employers, workers’ compensation is a familiar cost of doing business. Any employer with at least one employee is required to carry it. When a worker is injured on the job, the system covers medical care and a portion of lost wages — no proof of fault required. In theory, it’s a straightforward arrangement. In practice, Louisiana’s version of it has been neither straightforward nor affordable.
Louisiana ranks #42 in the nation for average workers’ compensation costs, according to the ALEC-Laffer Rich States, Poor States index — meaning Louisiana employers pay more than most of their counterparts elsewhere in the country. Research from the Workers Compensation Research Institute confirms the picture: Louisiana’s costs per claim are higher than most comparable states and have been growing. For industries like construction, manufacturing, and logistics, these costs are a real and persistent burden.
The last comprehensive overhaul of Louisiana’s workers’ compensation system came in the early 1990s, under then-Senator Mike Foster. In the decades since, the system has aged without meaningful reform — paper-based billing, an outdated medical fee schedule that generates constant disputes between providers and payers, and no reliable data infrastructure to identify where the system is breaking down.
That’s the backdrop against which Sen. Brach Myers of Lafayette set out to build something no one had been able to build in decades: a reform package that both sides of the workers’ comp debate could live with.
A Four-Goal Framework for Reform
Rather than simply drafting a bill and pushing it through, Sen. Myers spent months bringing stakeholders to the table — injured worker advocates, medical providers, insurers, employers, and Louisiana Works — and asking a fundamental question: what does everyone agree needs to happen?
The answer came down to four goals that both sides of the debate could endorse:
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- Get injured workers healed and back to work faster. Delays in care don’t just hurt workers — they drive up the total cost of claims for everyone.
- Create a fair and predictable medical fee schedule. The current fee schedule creates constant friction between providers and payers, generating disputes and litigation that slow care and add cost.
- Address outliers and abusers. Bad actors exist on both sides — providers overbilling, claimants prolonging claims — and the system currently lacks the data infrastructure to identify and address them.
- Modernize to 2026 standards. Louisiana’s workers’ compensation system still relies heavily on paper billing and lacks the electronic infrastructure that most states have had for years.
What SB 408 Does
Built around those four goals, SB 408 takes a comprehensive approach. At its core is the All Workers’ Compensation Medical Claims Database — what Sen. Myers described as filling in a “black hole” of data. For too long, providers and payers have argued over whose data is right. The database gives everyone — and the Legislature — a common, trustworthy foundation for future decisions.
The bill requires payers to report medical and pharmacy claims data beginning January 1, 2027, with electronic billing mandatory by July 1, 2027. A formal rulemaking process to develop a Louisiana-specific medical fee schedule would begin by June 30, 2028 — using two years of actual Louisiana data rather than national proxies. Critically, the new fee schedule cannot take effect until approved by both the House and Senate Labor Committees, preserving legislative oversight over the outcome.
The bill also strengthens the path back to work for injured workers by defining “maximum medical improvement” — the point at which a worker is not expected to significantly improve further — giving the system a clearer, more consistent benchmark for managing claims.
An Eventful Day in House Labor
When SB 408 — which passed the Senate earlier this month — reached the House Labor Committee last Wednesday, May 13, Rep. Michael Melerine offered a comprehensive amendment set drawing from his HB 1101 and Rep. Gabe Firment’s HB 780 — both of which had already passed the House floor — expanding the bill’s scope to address additional aspects of the workers’ compensation system. The amendments generated significant debate among committee members and stakeholders. The committee ultimately reported SB 408 as amended on a 7-3 vote.
In his closing remarks, Sen. Myers pledged to carefully study the amendments and committed to ensuring the final product lives up to the original spirit of the reform. “At our core,” he said, “we are taking care of the citizens of Louisiana.”
A Word on Sen. Myers’ Leadership
Workers’ compensation reform has eluded Louisiana for decades — not because the problems weren’t real, but because the competing interests were too entrenched to reach common ground. The fact that SB 408 has come this far is a testament to the approach Sen. Myers took from the beginning: listening before legislating, building consensus before pushing a bill, and staying at the table through months of difficult conversations.
SB 408 still has steps ahead — a full House vote and return to the Senate for concurrence on the amendments. One Acadiana will continue to follow its progress. We are pleased to support the bill and commend Sen. Myers for the sustained leadership that has brought Louisiana closer to meaningful workers’ compensation reform.
One Acadiana is tracking key legislation across three priority areas: Economic Competitiveness, Talent Development, and Infrastructure Investment. Be on the lookout for 1A legislative updates on these issues, and more, throughout the session.