Louisiana Crash Damages, Medical Expenses & Collateral Sources

Build damages by legal category and supporting proof

Separate past/future medical expense, wage/earning loss, pain and suffering, disability/disfigurement, property damage and other legally recoverable losses. For each item, identify causation and evidence. Do not use the liability limit or provider's gross charge as a substitute for the legally recoverable amount; Louisiana now has specific medical-expense and uninsured-driver recovery statutes.

Current R.S. 9:2800.27 limits recoverable past medical expenses by payment source

As amended effective January 1, 2026, §9:2800.27 generally limits contracted health-insurance/Medicare medical damages to amounts actually paid plus cost sharing, similarly limits Medicaid-paid amounts, applies workers' compensation fee-schedule amounts, and defines treatment of other paid/owed/liened expenses. The statute excludes specified categories, including benefits under automobile policies providing medical-payments coverage. Keep billed, paid, adjusted, owed and privileged amounts separately.

An uninsured owner/operator can lose the first $100,000 of bodily-injury and property-damage recovery

Current R.S. 32:866 generally bars an uninsured owner/operator from recovering the first $100,000 of bodily-injury damages and first $100,000 of property damage, even if that person is not at fault, subject to statutory exceptions. Exceptions include specified impaired-driving conviction, intentional crash, fleeing the scene, felony conduct, certain nonoperated vehicles, protected passengers and legally parked vehicles. Verify security and the current-law transition before valuation.

Comparative fault can reduce or eliminate recovery under the 2026 article

For claims governed by current Civil Code art. 2323, claimant negligence below 51% reduces damages proportionally and negligence of 51% or more bars recovery. Apply that fault calculation separately from the medical-expense measure, no-pay/no-play limitation, insurance limits, liens and settlement credits. Each can change the net recovery for a different legal reason.

Closing guidance

Louisiana damages now require at least three separate current-law checks: the medical-payment source, whether the claimant maintained compulsory auto security, and which comparative-fault regime governs. Keep those calculations separate from gross loss and insurance limits.