HB 819 Louisiana House · 2026 Regular Session

WORKERS COMPENSATION: Provides relative to the medical treatment schedule under workers' compensation (RE INCREASE SG EX See Note)

HB 819 updates Louisiana's workers' compensation medical treatment guidelines by adopting evidence-based Official Disability Guidelines (ODG) as the standard for non-covered treatments. It directly affects injured workers, employers, and healthcare providers by requiring all medical treatments not listed in the official schedule to follow strict, current evidence-based criteria. Key provisions mandate that such treatments must rely on comprehensive medical literature reviews, address potential biases, use the most recent guidelines (within five years), and align with interdisciplinary standards. The bill repeals outdated sections to streamline the process, ensuring treatments are scientifically supported and cost-effective for workers' compensation cases.

Issues: ✓ Labor & Employment

Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Feb 2026

Committee Review

May 2026

House Passage

May 2026

Senate Passage

Governor

Introduced Feb 27, 2026 Last action May 18, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons

What changed between versions

HB819 Reengrossed → HB819 Engrossed · 5 edits · May 13, 2026

MODERATE

This bill removes the requirement to repeal specific sections of the workers' compensation law and clarifies the bill's purpose to include related matters. It significantly updates the medical treatment schedule by formally adopting the Official Disability Guidelines (ODG) as the standard for care, requiring employers to pay medical invoices within 30 days, and shifting the burden of proof to the employer to show by clear and convincing evidence that care was unnecessary.

Scope change

The bill's scope was clarified to include related matters beyond just repealing specific sections, and the applicability of the medical treatment schedule was expanded to explicitly include the Official Disability Guidelines.

REQUIREMENT

Removed the instruction to repeal R.S. 23:1203.1(C) through (I) and (O), simplifying the legislative text.

Changed payment terms to require employers to pay medical invoices within 30 days.

Added specific criteria for the medical treatment schedule, including interdisciplinary organization and reliance on systematic medical literature reviews.

DEFINITION

Added the Official Disability Guidelines (ODG) as the official medical treatment schedule for workers' compensation.

ENFORCEMENT

Shifted the burden of proof to the employer, who must now prove by clear and convincing evidence that medical care was not necessary.

Floor votes · House May 13, 2026

How they voted

67–32

Passed · 6 other

Total votes 105

May 13, 2026

D Democratic33

1 Yea 30 Nay 2

90% Nay

R Republican72

66 Yea 2 Nay 4

91% Yea

Vote distribution

All Yea All Nay Mixed No data

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

May 13, 2026

Lower · Passed

Read third time by title, amended, roll called on final passage, yeas 68, nays 31. Finally passed, title adopted, ordered to the Senate.

lower

May 7, 2026

Lower · Passed

Reported with amendments (8-5).

lower

Mar 9, 2026

Committee

Read by title, under the rules, referred to the Committee on Labor and Industrial Relations.

lower

Feb 27, 2026

Committee

Under the rules, provisionally referred to the Committee on Labor and Industrial Relations.

lower

1 primary · 0 co-sponsors