Governor Edwards announced his Legislative Agenda last month and said that he was excited to work in a bi-partisan manner, outlining key pieces of legislation that he would support. Included were a variety of health and education reforms.

Representative Chad Brown’s HB 237 would protect nearly 850,000 Louisianans with a preexisting condition by prohibiting health plans or health insurers from discriminating against a health insurance applicant based upon preexisting conditions or health status.

SCR 3 by Senator Blade Morrish and HCR 1 by Representative Nancy Landry provides for a
$1,000 pay raise for teachers or certificated personnel, a $500 pay raise for school support
or non-certificated personnel. Eliminating pay secrecy by prohibiting employers from taking actions against employees for inquiring about, discussing or disclosing their wages or another employee’s wages is another of the Governor’s objectives in SB 136 by Senator J.P. Morrell.

HB 391 by Rep. Franklin Foil establishes “The Veterans First Business Initiative”, a statewide
initiative designed to identify veteran owned businesses in Louisiana, create a veteran owned business designation that they can use, and produce a state database for Louisianans to search for various goods or services of veteran owned businesses.

To increase prescription drug transparency, the governor will support legislation sponsored by Sen. Fred Mills, SB 41, to provide the regulatory framework necessary for the Louisiana Department of Insurance, Louisiana Board of Pharmacy, and Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiners to respond to consumer and provider complaints against PBMs. Pharmacy Benefit
Managers (PBMs) are third party administrators, “middlemen,” contracted by health plans, employers, and government entities to manage prescription drug programs on behalf of health plan beneficiaries. The three regulatory bodies will have specific licensure requirements that must be met to be in good standing and operation in Louisiana.

For HB 243, Rep. Dustin Miller and the Governor hope to address opioid-related harm through policy change to establish an enhanced data reporting of fatal and non-fatal drug overdoses where opioids were suspected or present. This legislation will create mechanisms for rapid surveillance of overdoses in the state, and lead to data-driven decisions for targeted prevention, ntervention, and treatment in areas of the state with the most prevalent challenges.

“I am proud of the momentum we are experiencing in the state of Louisiana,” said the Governor. “We have turned the $2 billion deficit I inherited at the start of my administration into a budget surplus….”