HB 34 Louisiana House · 2025 Regular Session

CIVIL/LAW: Provides for transparency in medical expenses

HB 34 revises how medical expenses are handled in civil lawsuits, impacting claimants seeking recovery for medical costs and parties involved in trials. It limits the recovery of medical expenses to amounts considered reasonable for the claim. The bill allows any party to introduce evidence of both the billed and paid amounts for medical services. Furthermore, agreements between healthcare providers and third parties, such as letters of protection with attorneys, will be admissible as evidence to ensure transparency.

Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Mar 2025

Committee Review

Apr 2025

House Passage

Apr 2025

Senate Passage

Governor

Introduced Mar 6, 2025 Last action Apr 29, 2025

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

HB34 Original → HB34 Engrossed · 4 edits · Apr 28, 2025

MODERATE

This bill significantly rewrites Louisiana's medical expense recovery laws to clarify how damages are calculated when insurance companies pay for a patient's care. The changes remove confusing subsections, add new definitions for terms like 'contracted medical provider,' and establish clearer rules on whether juries can see insurance payment details during a trial.

Scope change

The bill expands the scope by adding new definitions and clarifying rules for calculating damages, while simultaneously narrowing the scope by repealing previous subsections (E, F, and G) that contained conflicting or outdated evidence rules.

DEFINITION

Added specific definitions for 'contracted medical provider' and 'cost of procurement' to standardize how medical bills and insurance payments are understood in court.

REQUIREMENT

Deleted previous subsections that restricted evidence rules, replacing them with a new framework that allows parties to introduce evidence about billed amounts, paid amounts, or both to prove the reasonableness of medical costs.

Introduced new rules stating that agreements between healthcare providers and third parties (such as letters of protection or guarantees of payment) are now admissible as evidence in court.

TIMELINE

Maintained the effective date of January 1, 2026, and confirmed the law applies only to cases filed on or after that date.

Floor votes · House Apr 28, 2025

How they voted

66–26

Passed · 9 other

Total votes 101

Apr 28, 2025

D Democratic30

2 Yea 23 Nay 5

76% Nay

R Republican71

64 Yea 3 Nay 4

90% Yea

Vote distribution

All Yea All Nay Mixed No data

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Apr 28, 2025

Lower · Passed

Read third time by title, roll called on final passage, yeas 69, nays 26. Finally passed, title adopted, ordered to the Senate.

lower

Apr 15, 2025

Lower · Passed

Reported with amendments (11-3-1).

lower

Apr 14, 2025

Committee

Read by title, under the rules, referred to the Committee on Civil Law and Procedure.

lower

Mar 6, 2025

Committee

Under the rules, provisionally referred to the Committee on Civil Law and Procedure.

lower

1 primary · 42 co-sponsors