On Monday, January 13th, the Georgia General Assembly convened for the second year of the state’s two-year legislative cycle. This session gives lawmakers another opportunity to advance bills introduced last year that didn’t cross the finish line, as well as introduce new legislation addressing issues affecting Georgians’ health and well-being.
As lawmakers returned to the Capitol, they faced a fundamentally altered health care landscape following the passage of H.R. 1 (the One Big Beautiful Bill Act) by Congress and President Trump in July 2025. Steeply higher health insurance premiums strain family budgets and push more Georgians toward becoming uninsured. Georgia Access has already lost more than 190,000 enrollees in the first phase of 2026 enrollment.
According to new projections from the Georgia Health Initiative, the combined effects of H.R. 1’s changes to both marketplace operations and Medicaid funding, and the subsequent loss of premium subsidies could leave nearly 500,000 Georgians uninsured by 2034, drive $10.5 billion in uncompensated care costs, and result in $51.5 billion in lost health care provider revenue over the next decade.
At the same time, new federal restrictions on state provider taxes and state-directed payments are constraining the financing tools Georgia has historically relied on to fund its share of Medicaid costs.
So far, lawmakers have made few public comments about how they plan to grapple with these challenges in the 2026 legislative session.
This Week: Budget Week
This week is “Budget Week,” meaning the House and Senate Appropriations Committees will hold joint sessions throughout the week to hear from all of Georgia’s state agencies regarding changes to their budget requests. These hearings provide important insights into agency priorities and funding needs for the year ahead.
Health Highlights in Governor’s State of the State Address and Budget Proposals
On Thursday, January 15th, Governor Kemp delivered his State of the State address and unveiled his budget proposals for the remainder of the current fiscal year (which runs through June 30, 2026) and the next state fiscal year (July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2027). While health care was not a central focus, he addressed one key area: medical workforce development.
Medical Workforce Training
Governor Kemp proposed investments in health care education and training:
$40.7 million for health care education facilities and medical workforce training programs
$2.1 million for additional medical residency slots, bringing Georgia’s total to 2,523 residency positions
These investments in medical workforce development are important steps toward addressing provider shortages, particularly in rural and underserved areas of Georgia.
What Was Missing
Notably absent from the Governor’s address was any discussion of the comprehensive health care challenges facing Georgia families in this post-H.R. 1 environment. With the sweeping changes to both marketplace subsidies and Medicaid financing, the silence on these issues was striking. The Governor made no mention of:
The affordability crisis in Georgia Access, where premiums have more than doubled on average, and enrollment has dropped by at least 190,000 in 2026
The thousands of Georgians who are expected to lose Medicaid coverage due to new federal work requirements and immigration restrictions
State-level tools to protect affordability, such as strengthening reinsurance or creating a state premium subsidy program
Reducing administrative barriers that cause eligible Georgians to lose coverage or slow their enrollment into programs that they qualify for
Rural hospital stability as facilities face both rising uncompensated care costs and reduced Medicaid revenue
Strategies to prevent the projected $10.5 billion in uncompensated care from shifting costs to Georgia families, local communities, and the state budget
While investing in the medical workforce is necessary, it does not address the immediate coverage and access crisis. As Whitney Griggs, GHF’s Director of Health Policy, noted in a press release shared last week:
“These are policy choices, not inevitabilities. If state leaders do nothing, we will see more Georgians priced out of coverage, more strain on rural hospitals, and more financial pressure on families. Georgia has options to make coverage more affordable, with or without federal action.”
— Whitney Griggs, GHF’s Director of Health Policy
Health Care Unscrambled 2026: Coverage Crisis Takes Center Stage
Following the Governor’s address, GHF hosted Health Care Unscrambled 2026, our annual policy convening. This year’s event brought together state lawmakers, national experts, and health advocates as Georgia families faced the final marketplace enrollment deadline for 2026 and lawmakers began the legislative session.
We had a great turnout and are deeply thankful to everyone who was able to attend! The event provided timely insights into the challenges facing Georgia’s health care landscape and the policy tools available to address them.
Keynote: National Policy Expert Katie Keith
Katie Keith, JD, MPH, founding Director of the Center for Health Policy and the Law at Georgetown University’s O’Neill Institute, delivered the keynote address examining federal policy changes and their impact on Georgia. Keith highlighted that 2025 marked peak enrollment under the Affordable Care Act, with Georgia seeing particularly dramatic gains. Over the last five years, enrollment increased by 228% to 1.5 million Georgians, or 13% of the state’s population. However, the loss of enhanced premium tax credits, combined with new federal restrictions through federal rules and H.R.1, threatens to reverse these gains.
Key takeaways from her presentation included:
Nearly 500,000 Georgians could become uninsured by 2034 due to federal policy changes
Georgia could lose nearly $14 million in user fees for 2026, an important funding source for our state marketplace
Rural counties face nearly $626 million in health care funding losses
State policymakers have concrete tools available, including leveraging Georgia Access’s flexibility to offer state-specific affordability programs, streamlining enrollment processes, and investing in consumer outreach
Legislative Panel Discussion
State lawmakers Rep. Mark Newton (District 127) and Sen. Harold Jones (District 22) joined Whitney Griggs, GHF’s Director of Health Policy, for a candid discussion on the legislature’s priorities for addressing Georgia’s health care challenges. The conversation covered:
Health coverage affordability and Georgia Access’s enrollment decline of nearly 200,000 people
The impact of H.R. 1 (One Big Beautiful Bill) on Georgia’s coverage landscape and provider finances
The Rural Health Transformation Program and how Georgia can use $218.8 million in federal funding effectively
Mental health parity enforcement following the Insurance Commissioner’s recent $25 million in fines
A full recap of the event, including more details from the keynote and legislative panel, will be available soon on the event page. In the meantime, you can watch the recording now on GHF’s YouTube channel.
Bills We’re Watching from the 2025 Session
Several important health bills from last session are still in play for 2026. Because 2025 was the first year of a two-year legislative session, bills that did not pass will start in the chamber where they stalled. Here are two priority bills GHF is tracking:
Lead Sponsor:Rep. Darlene Taylor (173rd) Status: Returns to the Senate for consideration (passed House in 2025, did not receive Senate vote) GHF Position: Support. This is a GHF priority!
What this bill does: HB 291 would establish a certification process for community health workers (CHWs) in Georgia. CHWs are frontline public health workers who help connect individuals to health care and essential services, particularly in underserved communities. They go by many titles, such as Patient Navigator, Community Health Advocate, and Promotora de Salud. By setting uniform standards and training for CHWs, creating a statewide certification system would support a skilled, stable CHW workforce.
SENATE BILLS
SB 131 – Updates to the Behavioral Health Coordinating Council
Lead Sponsor:Sen. Mike Hodges (3rd) Status: Available for consideration (did not receive final agreement between chambers in 2025) GHF Position: Monitoring
What this bill does: SB 131 adds the Insurance Commissioner to the Behavioral Health Coordinating Council (BHCC). The BHCC is a multi-agency advisory group operated by the state that focuses on improving the state’s behavioral health system. Adding the Insurance Commissioner to the group could help strengthen the oversight and enforcement of Georgia’s mental health parity laws. The legislation also requires the BHCC to develop educational materials about mental health parity rights for consumers and providers. The bill also establishes a parity compliance review panel under the BHCC, to which health care providers must legally report suspected mental health parity violations.
Join These Advocacy Events During the Legislative Session
Each week during the legislative session, we’ll highlight legislative advocacy days hosted by our partner organizations. These events offer excellent opportunities to engage in lawmaking by meeting your legislators and advocating for critical health issues.
Please contact Anthony Hill at ahill@healthyfuturega.org if you have an advocacy event you’d like included in GHF’s legislative update.
We hope to see you at one or more of these impactful events!
GHF Has You Covered!
Stay up-to-date with the legislative session.
GHF monitors legislative activity on a number of critical consumer health care topics. Along with our weekly legislative updates and timely analysis of bills, here are tools to help you stay in touch with health policy under the Gold Dome.
State lawmakers talk budget priorities: What’s on the table for Georgia’s health care
Sofi Gratas
Department heads across state agencies began outlining their spending priorities this week in joint budgetary hearings hosted by the Georgia Senate and General Assembly. During the hearings, department heads broke down…
