Committee backs SB295 to require insurers to cover post-acute services for acquired brain injury

Senator Wheat presented Senate Bill 295 to require health insurance coverage for medically necessary post-acute services for persons with acquired brain injuries, including stroke and anoxic injury. The sponsor said advanced rehabilitation therapies can help patients return to work and avoid long-term state costs.

Morgan Beckman, a licensed speech-language pathologist and certified brain injury specialist, testified in strong support and provided data she attributed to state reporting: more than 18,500 traumatic brain injury cases in a single year (including about 14,000 emergency department visits, 3,500 hospitalizations and roughly 1,000 deaths; witness said the figures are 2018 data). Beckman said evidence shows adults who receive post-acute brain injury rehabilitation are more likely to return to work and less likely to require skilled nursing care; she estimated insurance-premium impact at between $0.01 and $0.21 per member per month.

Miriam Travis, a program director at a post-acute neurorehabilitation provider, and Kimberly Hill, executive director of the Brain Injury Association of Louisiana, described patients turned away because private insurers do not cover residential cognitive rehabilitation and urged the committee to expand access. Hill said large numbers of caregivers and case managers call the association’s helpline monthly seeking placements that private insurance will not cover.

Committee members questioned the bill’s interaction with auto/subrogation claims and with OGB; Senator Bass asked whether the measure would improperly shift liability from property-and-casualty carriers to health insurers when a third party caused the injury. Sponsor and witnesses said other states with similar mandates maintain subrogation and other recovery mechanisms and that the bill includes an OGB exclusion in the draft language (committee discussion did not expand the OGB acronym). Senators also noted the bill removes a lifetime cap on benefits, which prompted further discussion about exposure in self-insured plans; the sponsor said committee work and additional referrals will address those concerns.

Senator Barrow moved to report SB295 favorable; the committee reported the bill favorable without recorded opposition. The bill will be dual-referred and may be refined in subsequent committee work.