Coalition Cranks Up To Push Louisiana Comp Change

A coalition of employers, insurers and trade groups said it has embarked on an effort to change Louisiana's workers' compensation system with a team of lawyers and a hefty war chest.

Jai Sharma, chairman of Louisianans for Workers' Compensation, said his company–Christus Health, based in Texas, which operates in seven states–got involved because it noticed its costs in Louisiana were “way out of whack” compared with other areas.

He noted findings by the Workers' Compensation Research Institute showing that in Louisiana, worker injury recovery takes 35.6 weeks on average–71 percent higher than the national average–while the average cost per claim is 32 percent higher than the national average at $8,553.

Christus, a healthcare system with 6,000-plus healthcare workers, had been looking into the situation for a year before it became involved with the coalition, he said. Mr. Sharma is litigation director for Christus, based in their Houston office.

The coalition, he said, represents employers with 850,000 employees, trade associations and some local governments. Its goal, Mr. Sharma explained, is to establish “a balanced effective system that benefits employers and employees.”

He said a legal team is examining comp reform measures passed in 18 states, with a focus on reforms in California, Florida and Texas. “We want to draw on the best aspects of these reforms and tweak them to meet Louisiana's needs,” he said.

The goal is to have a package ready for the Louisiana 2008 legislative session.

Mr. Sharma said the coalition has no problem with money–”fundraising has been easy for us”–noting it already has several hundred thousand dollars to work with.

He said money will be spent to educate employers, employees and legislators “about the need for reform.”