Archives: Bills

HB 182 was replaced with the language from HB 410. Now, HB 182 makes changes to how Georgia’s Department of Insurance (DOI) operates. These changes include repealing several regulations, eliminating certain fees paid by insurers, and removing the requirement for insurance agency branch offices to obtain separate licenses. The bill’s author says HB 410 will streamline the DOI’s operations, reduce costs for insurers, and modernize regulations. However, several potential drawbacks could negatively impact consumers and public insurance industry oversight. These include less transparency in insurance company operations, less financial security, reduced oversight of insurance agencies operating multiple locations, and fewer financial resources for DOI to investigate and enforce consumer protections.

HB 268 proposes a range of policies to try to improve school safety, including creating mental health supports, requiring behavioral threat assessments and management, and establishing a state-wide threat assessment database for Georgia’s elementary and secondary schools. The bill includes funding for school-based mental health coordinators, new student behavioral assessments, and expanded school safety measures. It also enhances information sharing between schools, law enforcement, and state agencies to improve student support and security. The Senate’s version of the bill removed the S3 Database, which would have been a statewide database run by the Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency (GEMA) containing information about credible threats to school safety and the students involved in making them. The substitute added language defining a “terroristic threat of a school” as when someone threatens harm pertaining to school in a way that causes fear, disruption, or evacuation and defines criminal punishments for such an act ranging from a misdemeanor to a felony (if a threat of death is made). The substitute also defines a “terroristic act upon a school” as committing a violent or dangerous act with the intent to terrorize or force an evacuation on school property. The language also adds terroristic acts on a school to the list of crimes for which children (ages 13-17) can be tried as adults.

SB 233 makes several updates to the Behavioral Health Reform and Innovation Commission (BHRIC), including expanding its membership, restructuring its subcommittees, and extending its existence by 18 months (until Dec. 31, 2026). The commission is responsible for evaluating and recommending improvements to Georgia’s behavioral health system. Key changes to the committee include adding to the Commission’s membership a certified addiction recovery specialist with lived experience, a provider specializing in intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD), a parent of an individual with IDD or an individual with IDD, an individual who has lost an immediate family member to drug overdose or fentanyl poisoning, a leader of an IDD advocacy organization, and an executive director of a Georgia nonprofit focused on addiction and recovery. The bill also removes the Involuntary Commitment and Workforce & System Development committees and replaces them with the Addictive Diseases and Intellectual & Developmental Disabilities committees, respectively.

HB 97 would create a new coverage option for low-income Georgians ages 19-65 with incomes at or below 138% of the federal poverty level (FPL). Eligible Georgians would enroll in a health plan through Georgia Access (the state-run website where people can sign up for private health insurance). Under this program, the state would fully cover premiums and other costs for enrollees.

HB 258 would create PeachCare for Adults, a program that would cover adults ages 18 to 64 with incomes up to 133% of the federal poverty level who are not eligible for Medicaid. Coverage would mirror Medicaid benefits, including mental health services and all recommended adult vaccines. The Department of Community Health would oversee the program and require a federal waiver. The program would cap premiums for some enrollees and impose no work requirements.

SB 262 would require health insurance plans in Georgia to continue to cover preventive health care services without cost-sharing, ensuring that individuals can access screenings, immunizations, and other preventive care without paying out-of-pocket costs. The bill aims to protect access to preventive care regardless of changes to federal requirements.

This study committee is charged with thoroughly evaluating the most prudent and cost-effective ways to increase access to internal medicine in rural Georgian communities, with particular focus on those rural communities experiencing health transportation shortages. The committee will have eight members, five of whom will be House members and three will be non-legislative members who are licensed health care providers and who are familiar with the needs of rural Georgia.

HR 847 creates the House Study Committee on Evaluating Funding for Public Health to examine how Georgia’s public health system is structured, funded, and resourced. The committee will study whether current public health investments are adequate to support a sustainable public health infrastructure, improve health outcomes, and reduce preventable deaths. The resolution notes that Georgia has historically underfunded public health, and less than one in every ten state health dollars go to the Department of Public Health. The committee will consist of five members of the House, appointed by the Speaker, and will make recommendations for potential policy or funding changes. The committee would expire on December 1, 2025.

SB 55 ends the practice of paying people with disabilities less than the minimum wage in Georgia. Right now, some employers use a federal rule (called a 14(c) certificate) that allows them to pay workers with disabilities less than the federal minimum wage. This bill would phase out that rule, making sure all workers with disabilities get paid fairly. By July 1, 2026, employers must pay at least half of the federal minimum wage, and by July 1, 2027, they must pay at least the full minimum wage.

HB 422 would require the State Health Benefit Plan (SHBP) to offer at least two high-deductible health plans (HDHPs) by October 1, 2025. These plans must be paired with health savings accounts (HSAs), allowing employees to make pre-tax contributions directly from their paychecks. While HDHPs appear desirable to cost-conscious enrollees, they may face high out-of-pocket costs if they do not contribute to their HSA or do not contribute enough to offset the high deductible. The bill does not include a requirement to educate enrollees about the trade-offs of an HDHP and the importance of contributing to the HSA.