Healthcare

signed · Louisiana · House May 29, 2026

HB 405: HEALTH: Provides relative to the practice of acupuncture

HB 405 amends Louisiana law to establish licensure requirements for acupuncturists. It requires practitioners to hold active certification from the National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (NCCAOM) and pass its certification exam, including the Biomedicine portion. The bill updates the legal reference to the certifying organization's name to match its current official title. This directly affects individuals seeking to practice acupuncture in Louisiana by setting standardized certification criteria. The bill is currently in committee referral and has not yet been enacted.

Topics ✓ HealthcareSupports HealthcareEstablishes licensure requirements for acupuncturists to ensure qualified practitioners, improving healthcare quality and patient safety per bill's certification mandate.90% confidence | Rep's Stance ✓ Voted Yes ✓ Supports Healthcare

signed · Louisiana · House May 29, 2026

HB 779: HEALTH/MEDICAL TREATMENT: Provides relative to expedited partner therapy (EN SEE FISC NOTE GF EX See Note)

HB 779 allows Louisiana doctors, nurses, and physician assistants to prescribe antibiotics to a patient’s sexual partner for certain sexually transmitted infections (STIs) like chlamydia, gonorrhea, or trichomoniasis - without requiring a direct exam or doctor-patient relationship with the partner. It requires providers to give the patient a written document to share with their partner, detailing the prescribed treatment. The bill also grants legal protection to healthcare providers who follow these guidelines in good faith. This policy directly affects patients diagnosed with eligible STIs and their partners, aiming to improve treatment access while reducing infection spread.

Topics ✓ HealthcareSupports HealthcareEnables faster STI treatment access by allowing prescribers to directly treat partners without exams, improving public health outcomes and patient access.90% confidence | Rep's Stance ✓ Voted Yes ✓ Supports Healthcare

passed · Louisiana · House May 28, 2026

HR 267: HEALTH: Requests the Louisiana Department of Health to study prevention and reduction of diabetes-related amputations

This resolution directs the Louisiana Department of Health to partner with the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and other experts to study how to prevent and reduce diabetes-related amputations in the state. The study will examine current amputation rates, associated healthcare costs, and evidence-based strategies such as early detection, improved patient education, and expanded access to limb-saving treatments. A specialized workgroup of medical professionals and community members will guide the research, with findings and policy recommendations due to the legislature by December 1, 2026.

Topics ✓ HealthcareSupports HealthcareBill directs study on preventing diabetes amputations, improving access to limb-saving treatments, and reducing healthcare costs.90% confidence | Rep's Stance ✓ Voted Yes ✓ Supports Healthcare

Track

signed · Louisiana · Senate May 22, 2026

SB 30: HEALTH CARE: Provides relative to telehealth. (gov sig)

SB 30 prohibits Louisiana state agencies and licensing boards from banning telehealth services for evaluating, diagnosing, or treating obesity and related metabolic conditions. It directly affects licensed healthcare providers who use telehealth to deliver these services. The bill requires that providers may prescribe FDA-approved or compounded noncontrolled medications via telehealth while operating within their license scope and standard of care. This policy change removes regulatory barriers to telehealth for these specific conditions, without altering existing licensure requirements.

Topics ✓ HealthcareSupports HealthcareRemoves regulatory barriers for telehealth access to obesity treatment, improving patient access to care under license scope and standard of care.95% confidence | Rep's Stance ✓ Voted Yes ✓ Supports Healthcare

signed · Louisiana · Senate May 22, 2026

SB 32: HEALTH/HOSPITALS DEPT: Establishes a Perinatal Bereavement Care Initiative within the Louisiana Department of Health. (8/1/26) (EN INCREASE GF EX See Note)

SB 32 establishes the Perinatal Bereavement Care Initiative within Louisiana's Department of Health to improve support for families experiencing pregnancy loss or infant death. The bill requires hospitals providing maternity care to receive staff training on supporting grieving parents, access to bereavement resources (like counseling referrals), and perinatal bereavement devices. It prioritizes hospitals serving high-risk patients, delivering many babies, or lacking current bereavement resources. The initiative can fund these services using voluntary monies, including federal grants and donations, without imposing new taxes.

Topics ✓ HealthcareSupports HealthcareEstablishes bereavement care initiative requiring hospital staff training and resources for grieving parents, improving mental health support access in healthcare services.90% confidence | Rep's Stance ✓ Voted Yes ✓ Supports Healthcare

signed · Louisiana · Senate May 22, 2026

SB 113: HEALTH CARE: Provides relative to the Local Healthcare Provider Participation Program. (gov sig)

SB 113 establishes a backup mechanism for Louisiana's Local Healthcare Provider Participation Program in Calcasieu Parish. If the parish fails to authorize a local hospital assessment payment by June 1, 2026, municipalities within the parish with populations over 60,000 may independently authorize such assessments for healthcare providers operating within their city limits. The bill treats these municipalities as equivalent to parishes for compliance purposes, requiring them to meet the same program requirements. This procedural bill directly affects Calcasieu Parish and its larger municipalities, clarifying governance authority for healthcare funding.

Topics ✓ Budget & TaxesSupports Budget & TaxesAuthorizes local assessments to fund healthcare program, advancing public service funding through tax mechanism for essential services.95% confidence ✓ HealthcareSupports HealthcareBill creates backup funding mechanism for healthcare providers via municipal assessments, ensuring continued program access and stability for local healthcare services.90% confidence | Rep's Stance ✓ Voted Yes ✓ Supports Healthcare

signed · Louisiana · Senate May 22, 2026

SB 221: HEALTH SERVICES: Provides relative to ambulance providers. (8/1/26) (EN NO IMPACT See Note)

SB 221 establishes that "treatment-in-place" services - where ambulance providers assess and treat patients at the scene of a 911 call without transporting them - must be covered under Louisiana's Medicaid program (medical assistance program). Ambulance providers (excluding air ambulance services) will be reimbursed at existing Medicaid fee schedule rates for these services, without requiring real-time video or audio communication with a doctor for reimbursement. The bill mandates that such services follow medical protocols and the provider's scope of practice, while the Louisiana Department of Health will create implementing rules. This directly affects Medicaid beneficiaries receiving non-transport emergency care and ambulance providers who serve them.

Topics ✓ HealthcareSupports HealthcareMandates Medicaid coverage for ambulance treatment-in-place services, expanding access to non-transport care and requiring reimbursement at existing rates without restrictive communication requirements.95% confidence | Rep's Stance ✓ Voted Yes ✓ Supports Healthcare

signed · Louisiana · Senate May 22, 2026

SB 253: PUBLIC HEALTH: Provides relative to peptides. (8/1/26)

SB 253 prevents Louisiana's professional licensing boards from banning healthcare providers with prescriptive authority from prescribing peptides shipped from FDA-registered 503B facilities or FDA-registered compounding pharmacies. It directly affects doctors and other licensed prescribers who currently use such peptide sources. The bill requires providers to verify that prescribed peptides are not on the FDA's prohibited compounding list. This law aims to remove regulatory barriers for access to specific peptide treatments while ensuring compliance with federal FDA guidelines.

Topics ✓ HealthcareSupports HealthcareRemoves regulatory barriers for prescribers to access FDA-registered peptide sources, directly improving patient access to treatments without restricting coverage or funding.85% confidence | Rep's Stance ✓ Voted Yes ✓ Supports Healthcare

signed · Louisiana · House May 22, 2026

HB 676: CRIME: Creates the crime of fraudulent patient referrals or "body brokering" (EN SEE FISC NOTE GF EX)

HB 676 prohibits paying or receiving money for referring patients to substance abuse, mental health, or substance use disorder treatment facilities, defining this practice as "body brokering." It bans kickbacks tied to referral volume, treatment duration, or service type, but allows fixed payments unrelated to these factors. Violators face up to 5 years in prison, $50,000 fines, license suspension, or civil penalties. The law directly affects health care providers, facilities, and entities involved in patient referrals for substance use disorder treatment.

Topics ✓ HealthcareSupports HealthcareBans kickbacks for mental health/substance use referrals, preventing fraud and protecting patient care integrity in healthcare services.85% confidence | Rep's Stance ✓ Voted Yes ✓ Supports Healthcare

signed · Louisiana · House May 22, 2026

HB 301: LABOR: Creates the Independent Contractor Voluntary Portable Benefits Act

HB 301 creates the "Independent Contractor Voluntary Portable Benefits Act," allowing independent contractors in Louisiana to establish portable benefit accounts. These accounts, owned by the contractor and not tied to any specific employer, can be funded through voluntary contributions from hiring parties (like companies) or the contractors themselves, with clear opt-in and opt-out requirements. Key provisions include allowing contributions for health insurance, retirement, disability, and other benefits, while explicitly stating these contributions cannot be used to determine employment status or create employer liability under state labor laws. The bill directly affects independent contractors by providing a mechanism to access portable benefits across multiple clients.

Topics ✓ HealthcareSupports HealthcareBill explicitly enables health insurance coverage through portable benefit accounts for independent contractors, expanding access to healthcare benefits via voluntary contributions.90% confidence ✓ Labor & EmploymentSupports Labor & EmploymentCreates portable benefits for independent contractors, expanding access to health, retirement, and disability coverage without employer ties, advancing worker benefit options.90% confidence | Rep's Stance ✓ Voted Yes ✓ Supports Healthcare