Legislative update: Week 9

In this week’s update:

• House passes the Mental Health Parity Act! 
• A check-in on the state budget and Crossover Day is Tuesday!
• Bills you may not have seen yet
• Legislation on the move!
• GHF’s got you covered this session!

MENTAL HEALTH PARITY ACT PASSED THE HOUSE!

The Georgia Mental Health Parity Act passed the House last week! 

The Georgia Mental Health Parity Act (GMHPA) passed the House last Tuesday with an overwhelming & bi-partisan 169-3 vote. The bill has been referred to the Senate Health and Human Services Committee, and will receive its first Senate hearing today, March 14th, at 3pm. 

The GMHPA is a big bill so the Senate HHS committee will likely hold several hearings before voting on it. While our Senators hear and debate the bill, you can help. Call or email committee members and ask them to keep “parity” in the Georgia Mental Health Parity Act.

Parity means fair or equal. It’s time for health insurance companies to play fair. The Georgia Mental Health Parity Act would put in place strong, fair rules so Georgians get the mental health & addiction coverage we need (and pay for).

Want to do more?

• Share this fact sheet about the GMHPA with your networks
• Tell your Senator that you support the GMHPA and they should too.

Legislative update: Week 8

In this week’s update:

• Action Alert: Ask your state representative to support the Mental Health Parity Act! 
• A check-in on the state budget and Crossover Day coming soon!
• Bills you may not have seen yet
• Legislation on the move!
• Advocacy events for your calendar: AIDSWatch in Georgia, the Georgia work credit & Medicaid expansion!
• GHF’s got you covered this session!

Legislative update: Week 7

In this week’s update:

• Action Alert: You still have time to contact the House HHS committee to support the Mental Health Parity Act! 
• A check-in on the state budget
• Legislation about increasing coverage for Georgians with HIV, vaping ban, a bill banning COVID-19 vaccine “passports” passes out of the Senate, and much more! 
• Advocacy events for your calendar: President Biden’s State of the Union address & the Georgia work credit
• GHF’s got you covered this session!

Legislative update: Week 6

In this week’s update:

• Action Alert: Ask (again) the House HHS committee to support the Mental Health Parity Act!
• Legislation about increasing coverage for Georgians with HIV, greater transparency for state health plans, and a hearing for a bill banning COVID-19 vaccine “passports”! 
• Advocacy events for your calendar: Housing, substance use, & the Georgia work credit
• GHF’s got you covered this session!

Legislative update: Week 5

In this week’s update:

• Action Alert: Ask the House HHS committee to support the Mental Health Parity Act this Wednesday!
• Legislation about private insurance coverage of mental health & substance use, attempts to ban abortion-inducing medication in the mail, and allowing Medicaid members to receive treatment in certain in-patient mental health settings! 
• Advocacy events for your calendar
• GHF’s got you covered this session!

Legislative update: Week 4

In this week’s update:

• Take action to increase Medicaid coverage for new moms
• Legislation about private insurance coverage of mental health & substance use, prior authorization of prescription medicines, and a proposed study committee on smoking!
• Advocacy events for your calendar
• GHF’s got you covered this session!

Legislative update: Week 3

In this week’s update:

• Georgia House Speaker introduces Mental Health Parity Act
• Legislation on increasing postpartum coverage, drug prices, COVID-19 vaccines, and more!
• The General Assembly sets their 2022 calendar
• Advocacy events for your calendar
• GHF’s got you covered this session!

Legislative Update: Week 2

General Assembly meets for joint budget hearings 

The Georgia General Assembly met last week for joint budget hearings. During “budget week” both the House and Senate heard from Governor Kemp and agency leaders about their requests for the current and upcoming state budgets. The General Assembly’s budgetary considerations consist of two parts:

1. Changes to the current FY 2022 state budget (sometimes called the “little budget”) which will run through June 30, 2022, and
2. The FY 2023 general state budget (the “big budget”), which will begin on July 1, 2022.

After the agency presentations, the House will pull together the budget requests into legislation and continue to review funding requests.

Below we highlight some of the primary asks made by the state agencies that most impact our health, especially during the current health crisis. For more detailed budget analysis, please see the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute’s Overview of Georgia’s 2023 Fiscal Year Budget.

The General Assembly will reconvene on January 25th for the fifth day of legislative session.

Legislative Update: Week 1

The 2022 legislative session has begun

The Georgia General Assembly convened (for less than 1 hour) last Monday, Jan. 10th to officially kick off the 40-day legislative session. 

GHF held Health Care Unscrambled on Tuesday as Georgians celebrated UGA’s national football championship win. Thank you to those who attended Health Care Unscrambled! We will be in touch with a recap and a recording of the event very soon! 

The General Assembly reconvened Wednesday through Friday, completing the first four days of the session. The primary focus of the first week of the 2022 legislative session was Governor Kemp’s State of the State address. 

This week will be dedicated primarily to budget hearings for the current (FY 2022 Amended) and next year’s (FY 2023 General) state budgets. The General Assembly will reconvene Monday, January 24th for the fifth official day of legislative session. 

“Georgians for a Healthy Future praises our champions in the U.S. House of Representatives for their passage of the Build Back Better Act. This move brings uninsured Georgians one-step closer to a 4-year coverage gap fix. We encourage the Senate to urgently take up and approve this legislation so Georgians who have been left behind for almost a decade can easily & affordably access health care—like people just like them in 38 other states.”