WORKERS' COMPENSATION: Provides for preliminary determination hearings in workers' compensation. (1/1/27)

SB 213 revises Louisiana's workers' compensation reimbursement system for healthcare providers. It establishes a new formula to calculate payments for medical services when standard billing codes (RVUs) aren't available, including a fixed $55 rate for certain anesthesia services. The bill requires the assistant secretary to survey at least 30 Louisiana providers to determine average charges (excluding top/bottom quartiles) for setting reimbursement rates, with strict confidentiality for collected data. It also creates a 30-day expedited process for resolving payment disputes between providers and payors, with conditional cost recovery and limited appeals. This directly affects healthcare providers, employers, and insurers by changing how medical service payments are calculated and disputes are resolved.