Legislative update: Week 7

In this week’s update:

• Crossover Day in a week!
• New mental health bill
• Cover Georgia advocacy day!  
• Budget updates
• Legislation on the move
• Advocacy events for your calendar
• GHF’s got you covered this session!

COUNTDOWN TO CROSSOVER DAY

Crossover Day is next Monday! 

We’re now one week away from Crossover Day. Crossover Day marks the point during the legislative session when a bill must be approved by its originating chamber so it can move across the Capitol to the other chamber. A House bill that is not passed out of the House and any Senate bill that is not passed out of the Senate by Monday, March 6th, will not be able to become law this session. (There are occasional exceptions to this rule.) This deadline means things are heating up at the Capitol, and committees are working furiously to hear legislation. Expect a lot of activity over the next week, and follow GHF for updates.

In 2021 Georgians for a Healthy Future launched a project to raise awareness about the health harms of laws that stop, limit, or discourage local policy-making by communities about their health and well-being. . With support from Voices for Healthy Kids, GHF has spread the word that public health is local. 

When state or federal laws limit what laws or policies can be adopted by a local city or county, it’s called “preemption.” Check out our new video about preemption and public health here!  While it’s not always the case, preemption can be a sneaky way to stifle local efforts to build healthier communities. It can strip local officials of their powers to meaningfully govern in the best interest of their constituents.

Why does preemption matter for public health?

Communities in Georgia may want to promote public health with policies like these but preemptions in Georgia law stand in the way:

• Adding a local sales tax to smoking and vaping products to prevent youth ;
• Requiring COVID-19 vaccination or proof of negative COVID status before entering public buildings or taking part in public programs;
• Requiring businesses to provide paid family leave;, and 
• Raising the minimum wage for local workers.

Public health is crucial to promoting and protecting Georgians’ health and the health of our communities where we live, work, and play. Public health workers, agencies, and laws make it possible to track disease outbreaks, safely drink water from our faucets and eat at restaurants, help community residents learn healthy behaviors, and understand why some of us are more likely to experience poor health than others. It requires in-depth knowledge of the community and the ability to act locally in ways that are tailored to the needs and preferences of the residents. 

When the state or federal government preempts (stops) a community from making these local public health decisions, it can disrupt preparedness for future emergencies, worsen existing health gaps, and slow the spread of new or evidence-based policies. 

For example, it is well documented that  higher smoking and vaping taxes reduce rates of smoking and vaping, especially among young people and people with low-incomes. When local Georgia communities decide they want to prevent the adverse health effects of smoking and vaping among their middle and high school students, they can’t add a local tax to these harmful products. Georgia law hand-cuffs them from using one of the most effective anti-smoking and vaping policies to address their local needs. The inability to address this problem perpetuates higher smoking rates and worse health outcomes for some groups of people (particularly American Indians in Georgia).

Public Health is Local trainings: Savannah and statewide

As part of this project, GHF hosted two Public Health is Local trainings for Georgians. Step Up Savannah and Healthy Savannah co-hosted one of the trainings with  GHF. The event helped coastal Georgians learn more about preemptive policies (including some that are most relevant for that region of the state) and how they can take action to protect the public health of their communities.
You can view the virtual conversation HERE.

Advocacy opportunities

Preemption removes opportunities for effective, local public health action. Instead, state and federal laws should aim to set up frameworks that allow communities who know what will work best for their residents to try new and evidence-based policies.

One of the best ways to prevent state leaders from blocking local policy solutions is to recognize what preemption looks like and to speak up in support of public health in Georgia. Help keep public health local by:

• Sign the Say Yes for Public Health petition to show your support for public health in Georgia! 
• Watch and share this new video from GHF!

• Check out GHF’s weekly legislative update emails or our legislation tracker for bills that prohibit local governments from taking effective public health action. (SB 1 is an example that is currently being considered by the Georgia legislature.) Then contact your legislators to let them know that public health is local!

If you are interested in partnering with Georgians for a Healthy Future to strengthen public health in Georgia, please contact Knetta Adkins (kadkins@healthyfuturega.org) for more information.

Legislative update: Week 6

In this week’s update:

• Changes to health care sharing ministries
• Budget updates
• New legislation on prescription drug costs, state earned-income tax credit and IDD commission
• Legislation on the move
• Advocacy events for your calendar
• GHF’s got you covered this session!

GEORGIANS DESERVE ACCESS QUALITY,AFFORDABLE HEALTH CARE!

Changing health care sharing ministries requirements

HB 284, introduced by Representative Beth Camp, would expand the kinds of organizations that can establish health care sharing ministries and would allow the full amount each member paid for “shares” each year to be tax-deductible on their Georgia income tax.

Health care sharing ministries (HCSMs) are a form of health coverage in which members – who typically share a religious belief – make monthly payments to cover health care expenses of other members. HCSMs have gained popularity in recent years, especially among younger and healthier people, as a way to cut down on the cost of health insurance while still complying with the requirement to have health insurance (before the requirement was essentially removed). However, HCSMs do not have to comply with the consumer protections of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), including covering the 10 essential health benefits. HCSMs do not guarantee which health care services they pay for, so members are not guaranteed coverage if they become sick or ill. For example, these plans may refuse to cover substance use treatment or contraception.

HB 284 would expand Georgia’s definition of HCSMs so that almost any non-profit (those with a 501(c)3 designation) that shares “a common set of ethical or religious beliefs” can establish and be recognized as an HCSM. Previously only faith-based organizations could establish HCSMs. Additionally, the bill would allow for the member shares paid into the HCSM to be tax-deductible on state income taxes, thus incentivizing people to join an HCSM over more comprehensive and protective health insurance. 

GHF opposes this legislation because it will likely increase the number of consumers who are enrolled in poor quality health insurance with few protections. Those Georgians would be unable to access quality, affordable health care services.

HB 284 has been referred to the House Ways and Means committee.

Legislative update: Week 4

In this week’s update:

• GHF testifies in two committees last week
• Budget updates
• New legislation on Medicaid coverage, network adequacy, and moving to a state-run ACA marketplace
• Advocacy events for your calendar
• GHF’s got you covered this session!

GHF PROVIDES CONSUMER PERSPECTIVE ON TWO BILLS LAST WEEK

GHF’s Health Policy Analyst testifies to Senate Insurance Committee about state-based marketplace bill

SB 65, sponsored by Sen. Ben Watson, would would move Georgia’s health insurance marketplace from healthcare.gov (which is managed and run by the federal government) to a state-based marketplace (SBM). We covered this bill in detail in last week’s legislative update here. Last Wednesday, the Senate Insurance Committee heard SB 65, including testimony from GHF’s Health Policy Analyst, Whitney Griggs. You can watch her 3-minute testimony here and the full committee hearing here. 

During the hearing, the Department of Insurance explained the SBM model and that they believed much of the infrastructure was already in place following their launch of Georgia Access. They said that moving Georgia to an SBM would save money for the state and create a more tailored marketplace experience that meets the specific needs of Georgians.

Whitney testified that there are many trade-offs to be considered when setting up an SBM. The potential benefits that DOI presented can be achieved but those must be balanced with the time, resources, and expertise required to establish and run a successful SBM. GHF asked legislators to look beyond the possible cost-savings; articulate a set of clear goals for what the SBM should accomplish for Georgia consumers; detail how consumer voices will meaningfully guide the development and on-going management of the SBM; and outline how the legislature will monitor and evaluate the SBM’s progress in the decade to come. 

The bill was approved by the Senate Insurance Committee and will go to the full Senate for a vote. 

Legislative update: Week 4

In this week’s update:

• New bill on network adequacy! 
• Budget updates
• New legislation on tobacco, vaping, and moving to a state-run ACA marketplace
• Advocacy events for your calendar
• GHF’s got you covered this session!

ENSURING GEORGIANS ACCESS TO QUALITY HEALTH CARE!

The CATCH Act aims to protect Georgians from high health care costs

SB 20 has been introduced by Sen. Kay Kirkpatrick and is titled the Consumer Access to Contracted Healthcare (CATCH) Act. The CATCH Act revises Georgia’s Surprise Billing legislation to set network adequacy standards for insurers and provides protections for when consumers are forced to go out of a health plan’s network of providers for care.

Network adequacy measures a health plan’s ability to deliver reasonable and timely access to the health care services needed by their members. This includes primary care, specialty, and mental health providers. In order for health plans to have adequate provider networks, they must have enough in-network providers and benefits to offer access to all medically necessary services within a reasonable time.

When health plans do not have adequate networks, they do not have a sufficient number of contracted health care providers. That forces members to wait or travel long distances for critical health care services. In many cases, they are forced to see out-of-network providers and pay more for their care. When consumers face these kinds of barriers, they may delay or skip necessary medical care.

The CATCH Act aims to address this issue by updating Georgia’s network adequacy standards. Georgia’s current standards are almost 30 years old and give health insurers a lot of flexibility. The CATCH Act would require insurers to meet specific requirements for network adequacy, including maximum wait times for appointments. The CATCH Act also creates a number of consumer protections for instances when health plans do not meet the new requirements and consumers are forced to go out of network for care. For example, insurers would have to cover out-of-network services at in-network prices when the plan does not have the needed type of provider available in-network.

The CATCH Act has been referred to the Senate Insurance Committee.

Legislative update: Week 3

In this week’s update:

• Governor Kemp’s State of the State address
• Legislation GHF is keeping up with! 
• The General Assembly 2023 calendar
• Advocacy events for your calendar
• GHF’s got you covered this session!

GOVERNOR KEMP TALKS HEALTH CAREIN STATE OF THE STATE ADDRESS

Governor Kemp addresses legislators in the State of State address

On Wednesday, Governor Kemp addressed the General Assembly in his annual State of the State address. Per tradition, he used the opportunity to point to important items in his proposed budget and lay out his priorities for 2023. While much of the speech was focused on addressing crime and public safety, he did devote a portion to health care.

Towards the end of his address, Governor Kemp promoted his Pathways to Coverage program (aka “Pathways”), which is a partial Medicaid expansion. He confirmed that the program will begin July 1, 2023. Georgians between the age of 19-64 with incomes at or below the poverty level will be eligible to enroll in Medicaid if they meet stringent work and premium requirements. According to the Governor’s office, 345,000 Georgians could qualify for coverage under Pathways, but estimates by his own Department of Community Health say less than 90,000 people will gain coverage. 

Gov. Kemp also described the improvements that Georgia has seen in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplace over the last several years. Since 2019, the number of Georgians enrolled in ACA coverage has more than doubled and the choice of insurance companies has expanded from four to ten. These successes are the result of several factors: the additional financial help approved by Congress in 2019 and 2022 to lower premiums for ACA consumers; the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2021 decision to uphold the ACA for the third time; insurers’ subsequent confidence that the ACA would remain the law of the land; and Georgia’s reinsurance program to lower premiums (and re-assure insurers) starting in 2022.

LEGISLATIVE UPDATE: WEEK 2

The 2023 legislative session has begun

The Georgia General Assembly convened Monday, Jan. 9th to officially kick off the 40-day legislative session. 

The following day, as Georgians celebrated UGA’s national football championship win, GHF held Health Care Unscrambled 2023 and released our 2023-2024 policy priorities. Thank you to those who attended HCU! To revisit HCU 2023 or see what you missed, check out our recap and materials here.

The General Assembly reconvened Wednesday through Friday, completing the first four days of the session. Days 1-4 sped by quickly. Members were sworn in and legislative leaders hammered out the schedule for this year’s session which you can access here. (It’s rare–and very helpful!–for the full calendar to be set so early in session.)  Despite being new in their roles, Lt. Gov. Burt Jones and Speaker Burns wasted no time in putting their stamps on the Senate and House respectively as they re-shaped committees and re-assigned committee leaders. For more information about the new committees and committee leaders, scroll down to New Leaders, New Committees.

On Friday, January 13th, Governor Kemp released his proposals for the current state budget (FY 2023 Amended) and next year’s budget (FY 2024 General). We featured some highlights for you below.

Last week began with Martin Luther King Jr. Day and continued as “budget week”. House and Senate Appropriations Committee members held joint hearings during which state agency leaders presented their budget requests and reviewed agency spending. 

The General Assembly will reconvene today, Jan. 23rd for the fifth official day of legislative session. 

In July 2022, GHF’s Board of Directors and staff launched our 2022-2026 strategic plan–an ambitious blueprint for our next four years as an organization. Guided by this living document, GHF will deepen our focus on health equity; champion community-led change; build a healthy, resilient organization; and lead advocacy to strengthen Georgia’s public health systems and workforce.

This is the final blog in a four-blog series from GHF’s Executive Director Laura Colbert spotlighting each of our new strategic goals. If you missed the previous blogs, you can read about our goals related to health equity, community-led change, and building a resilient organization on our blogs.

Strategic goal #4: Strengthen public health infrastructure in Georgia by advocating for increased state funding, workforce capacity, and effective action by public health agencies. 

(Don’t miss GHF’s Say “Yes” for Public Health petition to show your support for public health workers, programs, and agencies here in Georgia!)