Beginning next month treatments for menopause and perimenopause will be covered by insurance in Louisiana. Brooke Thorington has more.
Cut 1 (30) “…I’m Brooke Thorington.”
_______________________________________________
The SEC officially welcomes Texas and Oklahoma to the Southeastern Conference today, making it sixteen schools starting the 2024 season. Sean Richardson has the story.
Cut 2 (34) “…I’m Sean Richardson.”
____________________________________________
Several new laws go into effect today and the Fair Claims Processing bill is one of them. Colleen Crain has more.
Cut 3 (31) “…I’m Colleen Crain.”
___________________________________________
Beginning August 1st both Medicaid and private insurers are required to cover for the care or treatment of menopause and perimenopause in Louisiana. New Orlean Democrat Representative Aimee Freem says physicians asked her to sponsor the bill because even though many of the medications they prescribe are generic they were often rejected by Medicaid.
So, medications to treat symptoms like hot flashes, bone loss, and night sweats will be covered, and patients won’t have to wait for prior approval from their insurer.
While in committee Freeman says private insurance companies testified against the legislation because it’s a mandate.
Freeman says she received bipartisan support for the bill. In committee, it was recommended that that requirement for private insurers be removed but when it reached the House floor, she says Representative Peter Egan added it back in.
Cut 6 (12) “…Republican colleagues.”
Freeman says there’s been more research on how to treat menopausal side effects and women deserve to have that coverage.
___________________________________
A new survey from WalletHub shows Louisiana residents are the least diligent with credit in the U.S. during the first quarter of this year, meaning they’re not managing debt or their credit score responsibly. WalletHub Analyst Cassandra Happe (happy) says this is likely because Louisianians have high debt overall and may be unable to make payments…
The study used six metrics to determine each state’s score for diligence in credit such as percentage of customers who have collections tradelines, which Louisiana scored last in. Happe says they put double weight on that metric because letting your account go to collections makes things much harder to resolve.
Though state and local governments could make more of an effort to teach financial literacy, Happe says most of the responsibility to fix poor credit diligence falls on those who actually have it.
___________________________________
Today Southeastern Conference officially welcomes Texas and Oklahoma to the SEC making it a 16 league team. SEC Associate Commissioner Herb Vincent says it’s been a long time coming, as Texas and O-U officially accepted invitations into the SEC in July of 2021. Vincent says the league has had plenty of time to prepare for this new era of the SEC…
One hurdle has been scheduling. With the SEC trying to preserve old rivalries and spark new ones.Vincent says for now the league is sticking to an eight game conference football schedule, but could add a ninth conference game in the future…
The 2024-25 athletic season also marks a new television deal for the Southeastern Conference as the league is no longer partners with CBS. The 2:30 Saturday afternoon games will now air on ABC. Vincent says it’s exciting time for the SEC…
This expansion gets rid of divisional play so say goodbye to what has been considered the most difficult division in all of football, the SEC West.
______________________________________________
Several new laws go into effect today and the Fair Claims Processing bill is one of them. The new law establishes a simple, clear timeline for the claims process that makes it easier for policyholders and property insurers to understand what their responsibilities are during the claim. River Ridge Senator Kirk Talbot.
The law gives insurance companies 30 days for residential and 60 days for commercial from when the “proof of loss” statement was submitted to pay the claims for non-declared catastrophes and an additional 30 days for name storms and declared catastrophes for residential and commercial properties.
Talbot says there is no one new law that can lower insurance rates, but this legislation along with others approved in the last legislative session are taking steps lure more property insurers into Louisiana…
The Fair Claims Processing law aims to reduce unnecessary lawsuits and simplify the legal process with hopes of bringing back a competitive market for the Louisiana insurance market.
____________________________________________________________
It’s Garrett Nussmeier’s time. The Lake Charles native has been at LSU since 2021 and he heads into the 2024 season as the Tigers starting quarterback. LSU is coming off back-to-back ten win seasons and Nussmeier says the team is determined to get in the twelve team playoff this season…
The defense’s improvement will be a big story line heading into the 2024 season. On offense, the Tigers have to replace two starting receivers that were selected in the first round, Malik Nabers and Brian Thomas. But Nussmeier says LSU’s receiver group still has a bunch of dogs…
LSU will also have a new offensive coordinator this season as Joe Sloan and Cortez Hankton will serve as co-offensive coordinators. Sloan has been the Tigers quarterbacks coach since 2022. Nussmeier says he has a strong bond with Sloan, who will be the one calling plays on Saturday…
_____________________