Louisiana comp formulary bill passes committee

A bill proposing a workers compensation drug formulary made its way past committee in the Louisiana Legislature on Thursday and has been sent to the House for a vote.

House Bill 592 — introduced by representatives Kirk Talbot, R-River Ridge, Taylor Barras, R-New Iberia, Paula Davis, R-Baton Rouge, and Lance Harris, R-Alexandria —proposes creation of a drug formulary that is in line with the most recent version of the Workers’ Compensation Formulary of the Official Disability Guidelines, published by the Work Loss Data Institute, according to a draft of the bill.

The House Labor and Industrial Relations committee voted 8-5 in favor of the bill, which would establish an evidence-based formulary by Jan. 1, 2018.