HJBR Jul/Aug 2024

44 JUL / AUG 2024 I  HEALTHCARE JOURNAL OF BATON ROUGE LDH CORNER COLUMN LEGISLATIVE NOW that I have just completed my first session as chairman of the Committee on Health and Welfare, I realize that my prior four years as a committee member were in- valuable in understanding the complexities of interests of patients, families, healthcare providers, healthcare facilities, regulators, insurers, advocates, etc. Everyone seems well-intended, but viewpoints and alliances among the parties shift from one bill to the next. Last term, as a committee member, I was able to focus on my own healthcare legisla- tion and listen to the debate on all the other bills before the committee. As chairman, I quickly learned that in addition to pursuing my own pieces of legislation, I have an ob- ligation to be a fact-finder, a mediator, and a problem solver. I have a completely new appreciation for the amount of work that is required to successfully navigate complex healthcare issues. Within days of being appointed chairman of the committee last January, I called for an oversight hearing of the proposed $2.7 bil- lion sale of Blue Cross. This hearing result- ed in more than eight hours of testimony, a blistering thirty-point summary of findings, and an unequivocal opposition to the sale. We all know how that ended. I believe this established the standard that I and the other committee members intend to maintain this term. We will do our research, ask the hard questions, and hold people accountable. In our committee, lives truly do depend on it. The regular session quickly followed, and as is customary, Health and Welfare was busy. We had 57 Senate bills assigned to us, a total that grew to 115 once House instru- ments came over. In addition, for better or worse, I filed 25 instruments, which kept me hopping in multiple committees and nego- tiating with a wide array of lobbyists and stakeholders. My passion is for the people of this state and doing all that I can to make Louisiana a place where healthcare providers want to treat patients and where our citizens live happier, healthier lives. To that end, there are several pieces of healthcare legislation that I am particularly proud of from this session. First and foremost, SB 165 (ACT 273) is my physician non-compete bill. The issue They Don’t Call It the Committee on Health and Warfare for Nothing!