INSURANCE RATES: Prohibits the use of insurer's advertising expense in setting rates. (8/1/26)

SB 298 prohibits Louisiana insurance companies from including institutional advertising expenses (like general brand marketing) when calculating their rate proposals. The bill amends state insurance statutes to define "expenses" as excluding such advertising costs and explicitly states insurers cannot use these expenses to set rates. This directly affects all property and casualty insurers operating in Louisiana that file rate changes with the state. The key mechanism is a statutory definition change that removes advertising costs from the expense calculations insurers use for rate filings. The bill does not alter other rate components like claims costs or operational expenses.