(The Center Square) − Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry unveiled a comprehensive strategy to address the state’s escalating insurance crisis, emphasizing a “balanced approach” to hold both insurance companies and trial lawyers accountable.
Insurance rates are consistently cited as a top priority by voters and legislators alike. Landry described insurance costs as a “crisis, not only in this state but within the nation as well.”
“Last year, major business journals like the Wall Street Journal, like Forbes magazine, published story after story about the high cost of automobile insurance and homeowners’ insurance,” Landry said, noting that despite these reports, “insurance companies continue to send to Wall Street record profits.”
He highlighted the disconnect between corporate gains and the financial strain felt by Louisiana families, stating, “The profits continue to go up, while the amount in our citizens’ pockets go down.”
The governor’s plan builds on legislative efforts from previous years, during which dozens of bills were passed to address insurance costs.
Landry also mentioned that he plans to sign bills which we’re previously vetoed, including a bill that “reversed” the Housley judicial precedent, which ” is court made law that mandates that injury, in any case, is presumed to be caused by the accident.”
To break the cycle of rising premiums, Landry proposed a series of reforms targeting what he identified as the root causes of high insurance costs.
“The amount of severe injuries that Louisianans received in automobile accidents is less than the national average. That, I’ll be honest, was a shock, even to me, the only outlier in the numbers is minor injury claims, under which Louisiana is almost double the national average “
Landry suggested this discrepancy points to a “cultural problem” driven by excessive lawyer advertising, which he plans to curb through legislation.
On the insurance side, Landry criticized the industry’s practices, noting that “loss ratios, or the amount of money insurance companies pay out per dollar collected by policyholders, is better in Louisiana than it is in Texas and in Florida.”
He argued that this indicates insurance companies are profiting more in Louisiana than in neighboring states, a trend he aims to reverse by empowering the state’s insurance commissioner with greater authority, modeled after Texas and other states.
Among the specific measures proposed, Landry pledged to sign legislation previously vetoed by former Gov. John Bel Edwards, including a bill to limit lawyer advertising, which Landry said has a “cultural effect on our society, and it’s not healthy.”
He also called for prohibiting insurance companies from passing advertising costs onto policyholders.
“If insurance companies want to hire overpaid celebrities to appear in commercials and have geckos riding motorcycles, then our citizens should not pay for that in their premium increases,” Landry said.
Landry also addressed the issue of uninsured drivers, a concern echoed by Louisiana citizens in recent polls.
“We have a growing number of drivers who continue to use our highways in defiance of our laws by driving with no insurance,” Landry said, advocating for strengthening the ‘no pay, no play’ law to raise award exclusion limits from $15,000 to $800,000 for uninsured motorists.
In a nod to broader fairness, the governor proposed banning the use of credit checks to determine insurance premiums and limiting penalties for lapsed coverage when no driving occurred.
He also suggested measures to improve road safety, such as prohibiting texting or social media use while driving and requiring a 5% premium discount for large trucks equipped with dashboard cameras.
“For too long inside of this very building, there has been a battle waged between insurance companies and trial lawyers,” Landry said. “I’m not here to help lawyers. I’m not here to help insurance companies. I’m here to help the citizens of this state.”
