Louisiana’s small business owners are urging legislators to address rising insurance costs through legal reforms in the upcoming legislative session starting April 14. According to NFIB State Director Leah Long, lawsuit abuse is a major factor driving up insurance rates, and common-sense reforms are necessary to stabilize the market and create a fair legal system.
“Bring more transparency to the process. Lawsuit abuse increases insurance costs, and that’s something that we’re dealing with. That’s something everyone’s dealing with, so that’s kind of our main goal right now for the 2025 session,” Long said.
Long says the NFIB supports legislation that would place medical damages in a trust to prevent excessive costs, cap non-economic damages at $750,000 dollars for predictability, and bar individuals more than 50% at fault from recovering damages to reduce frivolous claims.
“We definitely want to kind of put a cap on injury cases, and we also want to put a timeline on the days, and so I think one of those requiring personal injury attorneys to notify defendants and insurers within 10 days of taking the case,” Long explained.
Long argues that lawsuit abuse stifles business growth and hiring while increasing costs. Passing these reforms would ensure fairness and give small businesses the stability they need to support Louisiana’s economy.
“We really need to lower the costs of insurance, because it adds to the cost of doing business for these small business owners,” Long said.
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