Landry testifies on insurance bill as Louisiana rates remain highest in US

BATON ROUGE, La. (Louisiana First) — Gov. Jeff Landry testified Wednesday morning as part of his ongoing push to overhaul Louisiana’s insurance system and bring down the highest car and home insurance rates in the nation.

Landry is supporting House Bill 576, sponsored by Rep. Robby Carter (D-Amite), which would change how insurance rates are regulated in Louisiana. The bill would eliminate the current distinction between “competitive” and “noncompetitive” markets, replacing it with a single, uniform standard.

Under current law, the insurance commissioner can reject rates for being excessive only in noncompetitive markets. In competitive markets, the commissioner can disapprove rates only if they’re inadequate or unfairly discriminatory.

HB 576 would allow the commissioner to disapprove any rate—in any market—for being excessive, inadequate, or unfairly discriminatory. However, it would also prohibit the commissioner from rejecting any rate that is actuarially justified, even if it might otherwise be considered excessive.

“The only way I can figure it is if you keep trying to do the same thing over and over again, and you get the same results, and the results aren’t that good, you have to try something different,” Landry said. He added that the bill would give the commissioner’s office “the opportunity to succeed.”

Car and homeowners insurance in Louisiana have been identified as the most expensive in the country. According to Bankrate, the average cost of full-coverage car insurance is $3,994—more than double the national average. Insurify estimates the state’s average annual home insurance premium will rise to $13,937 in 2025, the highest in the U.S.

The changes come amid growing public frustration over soaring premiums and limited insurance availability following several destructive storm seasons.

“Nothing in statute today, nothing in statute in the past and nothing in statute if this bill passes would allow the commissioner to set a rate. He’s only allowed to approve or disapprove. He cannot set a rate. That has never been the case in Louisiana and cannot be the case in this bill,” Carter told lawmakers.

Insurance Commissioner Tim Temple opposes the legislation, arguing that insurance reforms passed last year with Landry’s support are already working. He said eight companies have filed to decrease rates for 2025 and that the percentage of companies requesting rate hikes has declined.

“The reform is working,” Temple said. “I would encourage you don’t upset the progress that we’ve made by signaling to the market that we’re going to try something vastly different.”

Landry and Temple have publicly clashed over the state’s path forward. On April 10, the governor wrote on X: “I’d remind him that we were not elected by insurance companies or trial lawyers, but instead were elected by the people who entrusted us to fix this mess.”

Landry’s broader insurance package includes a ban on insurers passing advertising costs to consumers. “If the insurance companies want to hire overpaid celebrities to appear in commercials and have a gecko sipping on coffee riding motorcycles, then our citizens should not pay for that in their premium increases,” he said at an April 9 press conference.

The bill passed out of the House Insurance Committee with amendments Wednesday afternoon. The regular legislative session continues through June 12.

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CORRECTION: A previous version of this story misstated the effect of House Bill 576 on the insurance commissioner’s authority. The bill would eliminate the distinction between competitive and noncompetitive markets and would allow the commissioner to disapprove rates that are excessive, unless they are actuarially justified.

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