Louisiana lawmakers are reviewing how state law limits transparency in personal injury jury trials as residents continue to face some of the highest auto insurance premiums in the U.S.
Five legislative committees with authority over insurance and legal issues met to examine the causes of rising premiums and explore possible solutions. Lawmakers expect to hold a special session next year focused on insurance.
Auto insurance costs in Louisiana remain among the highest in the U.S. One recent study ranked the state as the eighth most expensive for vehicle coverage, according to US Auto Insurance Rates by States in 2025.
Commissioner of Insurance Tim Temple told the House Insurance Committee that Louisiana records twice the national average of auto claims involving bodily injury. Lawmakers are now examining why that number is so high and how much it affects premium levels.
Temple pointed to recent actions in Florida, where lawmakers passed insurance laws with support from the industry. These laws reduced policyholder options and limited litigation.
Louisiana legislators are looking at similar options. Insurers have long argued that state laws encourage lawsuits, inflating both claims and payouts, which they say leads to higher premiums.
However, insurance companies often avoid disclosing the full details behind their pricing models. Lawmakers have had to rely on input from lobbyists and legal professionals instead.
Tort reform remains central to the debate. Insurers claim that existing laws make it easier for plaintiffs to sue and receive large awards.
They blame what they call “billboard attorneys” and their clients, alleging that accident victims are pushed into unnecessary treatment and lawsuits.
Rep. Brian Glorioso, R-Slidell, said this culture creates an incentive for people to seek legal help even when their injuries might not require it. He blamed aggressive advertising by trial lawyers for increasing claim volume and, by extension, insurance costs.
Personal injury attorneys disagree. Senator Royce Duplessis, D-New Orleans, said corporate salaries, marketing budgets, and poor road maintenance contribute to high premiums.
As a personal injury lawyer, Duplessis challenged the insurance industry’s claim that lawsuits are the main cost driver. He said the industry has yet to present verified data showing a direct connection between injury litigation and rate hikes.
During a Senate Insurance Committee hearing, attorney Doran Drummond testified about a Louisiana statute that prevents juries from seeing the actual amount paid for a plaintiff’s medical treatment. Juries are shown only the billed amounts, which he claimed are often inflated.
Drummond said plaintiff attorneys sometimes have agreements with doctors to delay payment while creating inflated invoices for use in court.
These inflated figures can increase jury awards. Once the case concludes, lawyers pay the doctors a lower amount, while the plaintiff remains unaware of the arrangement. Drummond said this process repeats in thousands of cases and contributes to rising insurance costs.
Senator Kirk Talbot, R-River Ridge, proposed changing or removing the statute to allow juries to view both the billed and paid amounts.
He noted that Louisiana differs from other states in this regard. In Alabama, juries see the actual costs. Tennessee allows insurers to show average or standard costs for treatments by ZIP code, referred to as “usual and customary” rates.
Drummond stated he appeared at the request of the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry, which led the push for tort reform in 2020. At that time, LABI promised that the changes would reduce premiums by up to 25%. Rates increased instead, and lawmakers have not reversed any of the legal changes.
Duplessis argued that Drummond’s statements relied on anecdotes and lacked data. Lawmakers still have no actuarial evidence linking personal injury lawsuits to high premiums.
Talbot responded that the committee’s work is ongoing and that data might become available later. The Senate Insurance Committee plans to meet monthly until the start of the next legislative session.
Distracted driving also received attention during the hearings. The Department of Transportation and Development reported that it played a role in over 30% of crashes in Louisiana between 2021 and 2023.
Several lawmakers noted that repeated efforts to ban hand-held phone use while driving have failed. Temple said distracted driving likely contributes to accident frequency. He said people checking their phones while driving are not focused on the road.
