|
WEEK 10: COMMUNITY HEALTH WORKER CERTIFICATION BILL AWAITS FINAL PUSH
|
As the 2026 legislative session enters its final days, one critical workforce bill remains stalled in the Senate Health and Human Services Committee.
HB 291, which would establish Georgia’s first certification process for Community Health Workers (CHWs), crossed over to the Senate last year but has yet to receive a committee vote. With just a few legislative days remaining before Sine Die on April 2, time is running short for this important workforce investment.
CHWs play a vital role in Georgia’s health care system by bridging gaps between communities, social services, and health care providers. They go by many titles, including Patient Navigator, Community Health Navigator, and Promotora de Salud. HB 291 would create a state-approved certification process with standard training and competencies, helping CHWs do their work more effectively and sustainably.
Community Health Workers deserve professional recognition and consistent training standards. With limited time remaining in the session, members of the Senate Health and Human Services Committee need to hear that Georgians support this workforce investment.
|
|
Here’s what you need to know about HB 291 and where it stands:
|
What HB 291 Does
The bill creates the Georgia Community Health Worker Certification Committee within the Georgia Department of Public Health (DPH) to oversee certification. The committee would:
- Set training and certification standards for CHWs
- Approve CHW training programs in Georgia
- Define core competencies (skills CHWs must demonstrate)
- Establish tiered levels of certification, including advanced levels for CHWs who train others
- Handle complaints and disciplinary actions related to CHWs
Key requirements under the bill:
- CHW training programs must include at least 45 hours of core competency training, with 16 hours covering specific health topics
- Certified CHWs must be 18 or older, have a high school diploma (or GED), and meet additional eligibility criteria set by the committee
- CHWs must submit professional references and pass a fingerprint-based background check
- CHWs who were already working before January 1, 2026, will have a process to obtain certification without repeating training
- All CHWs in Georgia must be certified by the committee unless specifically exempted
- The committee will sunset on June 30, 2028, unless extended by lawmakers
|
|
GHF supports HB 291 because research shows that their integration into clinical care teams and community-based settings is effective at improving health outcomes, lowering costs, and addressing health disparities. Certification strengthens the CHW workforce by supporting credibility, professional development, and improved health outcomes statewide. Potential benefits include:
- Improving health outcomes: CHWs are often members of a patient’s care team, helping them navigate the health care system and working alongside the patient’s medical team, especially in underserved communities. For example, some CHWs teach patients newly diagnosed with diabetes about nutrition and eating habits that help to keep their blood sugar within healthy ranges.
- Increasing self-sufficiency: CHWs provide community education to build individual and community capacity and increase self-sufficiency. They attend community meetings and events to develop trust, assess resource and education gaps in the community, and much more. CHWs also ensure prescriptions are picked up and follow-up appointments are scheduled and attended.
- Serving rural communities: CHWs play a critical role in connecting communities with limited access to medical care with free and low-cost services. They help reduce barriers by coordinating client transportation services and providing direct services such as care coordination, case management, and system navigation.
- Greater workforce stability: Creating alternative career pathways and expanding Medicaid reimbursement options.
- Cost savings for health care facilities: CHWs help reduce emergency room visits and hospitalizations.
|
|
|
Where the Bill Stands
HB 291 passed the House during the 2025 legislative session (the first year of the current two-year session) and crossed over to the Senate. The bill was assigned to the Senate Health and Human Services Committee, chaired by Senator Ben Watson (R-1st), but has not yet received a committee vote. The bill needs to be placed on the committee agenda for a vote before it can advance to the Senate floor.
|
Take Action: Urge the Senate Health and Human Services Committee to Vote on HB 291
Community Health Workers deserve professional recognition and consistent training standards. With limited time remaining in the session, members of the Senate Health and Human Services Committee need to hear that Georgians support this workforce investment.
|
|
Support This Important Work!
|
|
Your support powers our work to expand health care access and build a healthier, more equitable Georgia for everyone. Please consider making a gift to GHF today!
|
|
|
HB 1192: State Agency Financial Accountability
Lead Sponsor: Rep. Taylor (R-173rd) | Status: Passed the Senate | GHF Position: Monitor
What HB 1192 does: Requires the Department of Human Services and the Department of Community Health to keep funds designated for specific purposes in separate accounts and report annually to the legislature on cost savings and efficiency improvements.
Consumer impact: The requirement to maintain separate accounts and additional reporting requirements may create significant administrative burdens for DHS and DCH, which already struggle with administrative requirements. However, creating an oversight mechanism and greater transparency could help ensure that money designated for specific health programs actually goes to those purposes.
|
|
|
HB 1238: Respite Care for Families of Youth with Behavioral Health Needs
Lead Sponsor: Rep. Dempsey (R-13th) | Status: Passed out of the Senate Health and Human Services Committee | GHF Position: Support
What HB 1238 does: Directs the state to seek federal approval for Medicaid to pay for respite care services for families caring for children under 21 with serious behavioral health conditions who are at risk of going into foster care.
Consumer impact: Families caring for children with significant behavioral health needs often reach a breaking point. Respite care gives families temporary relief while keeping kids in their homes and communities, rather than resorting to foster care or residential facilities. Respite care costs less than institutional placements and produces better outcomes for children.
|
|
|
HB 1393: Rural Hospital Authority Antitrust Immunity
Lead Sponsor: Rep. Werkheiser (R-157th) | Status: Heard by House HHS committee yesterday (03/23). No vote was taken. | GHF Position: Under Review
What HB 1393 does: HB 1393 would allow hospital authorities in small rural counties (under 50,000 population) to coordinate on pricing, insurance negotiations, staffing, and services without facing antitrust liability. Supporters say this could help struggling rural hospitals survive by pooling resources and negotiating better rates. However, the bill lacks oversight or transparency requirements and raises serious legal questions by attempting to preempt federal antitrust laws, which is an authority that has not been given to a state legislature before. The bill’s antitrust protections also extend beyond public hospital authorities to private entities that collaborate with them, meaning for-profit hospital systems or other commercial partners could use these arrangements to shield pricing and other important information from scrutiny.
|
|
|
SB 427: Pathway for Internationally Trained Physicians
Lead Sponsor: Sen. Watson (R-1st) | Status: Passed by the House. Needs an “agree” from the Senate. | GHF Position: Support
What SB 427 does: Creates a pathway for qualified physicians trained outside the U.S. to practice in Georgia. Eligible physicians would receive provisional licenses, would work under a fully licensed provider for a specific time period, and must work in underserved areas for 2-4 years to qualify for full licensure.
Consumer impact: Georgia faces significant physician shortages, especially in rural areas. SB 427 would help address workforce gaps by allowing qualified international physicians to practice while meeting supervision and practice requirements.
|
|
|
SB 428: Medicaid Home and Community-Based Services for Mental Health
Lead Sponsor: Sen. Kirkpatrick (R-32nd) | Status: Passed out of the House Health Committee | GHF Position: Support
What SB 428 does: Directs the state to seek federal approval by December 31, 2026, for a Medicaid waiver that would pay for home and community-based mental health services for adults over 21 who need ongoing support but don’t need institutional care. Eligibility would be based on risk factors like hospitalization history, psychiatric crises, emergency visits, prior incarceration, or homelessness.
Consumer impact: SB 428 would allow Medicaid to cover ongoing community-based support that helps people remain stable and avoid costly crisis situations.
|
|
|
SB 462: Protecting Consumers from Surprise Ambulance Bills
Lead Sponsor: Sen. Still (R-48th) and others | Status: Passed out of the House Insurance Committee | GHF Position: Support
What SB 462 does: Extends Georgia’s surprise billing protections to emergency ground ambulance transportation. SB 462 would cap what patients pay for out-of-network ambulance rides at the same amount they’d pay for in-network rides, and prohibit ambulance companies from billing patients for the rest. The bill sets a minimum payment rate for ambulance companies at the locally negotiated rate, or, if none exists, at the lesser of 325% of Medicare rates or the billed charges. In committee, language from two other consumer protection bills was added to SB 462:
- HB 1262 (Increasing Insurance Violation Penalties): Raises the maximum penalties the Commissioner of Insurance can impose on insurance companies for violations of mental health parity reporting requirements, general insurance law, and the Surprise Billing Consumer Protection Act. The bill increases the current per-violation standard from $2,000 to $10,000 and the knowing-violation standard from $5,000 to $25,000.
- HB 1344 (Georgia Insurance Oversight): Strengthens DOI enforcement authority, insurance fraud penalties, and consumer protections for claims processing after disasters. The bill also increases penalties for violations by pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs).
Consumer impact: Georgians currently face unexpected ambulance bills ranging from hundreds to thousands of dollars, even with insurance. SB 462 would close that gap in Georgia’s surprise billing law. The added provisions from HB 1262 and HB 1344 give regulators stronger tools to hold insurance companies accountable when they violate the law and provide additional consumer protections.
|
|
|
SB 500: Health Care Workforce Database Expansion
Lead Sponsor: Sen. Hodges (R-3rd) | Status: Passed out of the House Public and Community Health Committee | GHF Position: Under Review
What SB 500 does: Expands the existing Behavioral Health Care Workforce Database to cover all licensed health care professionals in Georgia and renames it the Health Care Workforce Database. The bill broadens the set of licensing boards required to participate in data collection without appropriating new funds or setting implementation deadlines.
|
|
|
SB 535: Community Service Board Governance Restructuring
Lead Sponsor: Sen. Kirkpatrick (R-32nd) and others | Status: Passed out of the House. This bill will go to the Governor’s desk for his signature. | GHF Position: Monitoring
What SB 535 does: Restructures governance of Georgia’s community service boards (CSBs) by transferring executive director appointment authority from local governing boards to the DBHDD Commissioner. Executive directors would become DBHDD employees. The Commissioner could direct executive directors to override governing board decisions when a CSB fails to meet performance standards. CSB conversions to nonprofit or other structures require Commissioner approval, and cessation of operations requires Governor approval.
Consumer impact: CSBs are the primary delivery system for community-based behavioral health and developmental disability services in Georgia. Centralizing executive director appointments under DBHDD could improve statewide accountability and help address underperforming CSBs, but removes local community input from leadership decisions. The bill does not define the “performance standards” that would trigger a state override of local governing board authority, leaving significant discretion to DBHDD. Consumers and families who participate in CSB governance would see their influence reduced under the new structure.
|
|
|
ADVOCATE WITH US AT THE CAPITOL!
|
Join These Advocacy Events During the Legislative Session
Each week during the legislative session, we’re happy to 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.
We don’t have any events to share this week. 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!
|
Stay up-to-date with the legislative session.
GHF monitors legislative activity on many 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.
|
|
