Healthcare

HB 390 requires employers with 50+ Louisiana employees to provide up to three unpaid workdays per year for domestic abuse survivors. It allows leave for medical care, counseling, relocation, shelter services, or legal actions related to abuse. Employers may request documentation like court orders or appointment confirmations but cannot retaliate against employees using this leave. The bill directly affects domestic abuse survivors working for qualifying employers and prohibits discrimination for taking protected leave.

HB 866 prohibits pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) and managed care plans in Louisiana from paying community pharmacies less than specific benchmarks for prescription drugs. It requires reimbursements to be at least the National Average Drug Acquisition Cost (NADAC) plus Louisiana's professional dispensing fee, or an approved alternative benchmark, and bans practices like "spread pricing" and "steering." The bill mandates "pass-through pricing," ensuring pharmacies receive payments directly without PBMs or plans keeping the difference. This directly affects Louisiana pharmacies and PBMs/managed care plans operating in the state, with violations subject to fines of $100,000+ per incident.

SB 4 changes Louisiana's water fluoridation policy by ending the state mandate for fluoridation in public water systems. Instead, it requires local voter approval via election for any system to fluoridate, with exceptions for systems already meeting natural fluoride levels. This directly affects public water systems serving over 5,000 connections that currently fluoridate or need to adjust fluoride levels. The bill takes effect January 1, 2027, replacing the previous requirement with a local decision process.

SB 5 regulates artificial intelligence mental health chatbots operating in Louisiana. It requires operators to clearly disclose upfront that the chatbot is AI (not human), provide crisis protocols for suicidal thoughts or self-harm (e.g., connecting to hotlines), and prohibit sharing users' personal health data without consent. The bill also bans using user input to target ads for products/services (except for the chatbot itself) and restricts in-chat advertising without clear disclosure of sponsorships. These rules apply specifically to chatbots marketed as providing mental health therapy or treatment, directly affecting operators and users in Louisiana.