Several health care bills have been introduced in both the House and Senate that address a wide variety of health care issues, including private insurance regulation, Georgia's Medicaid and PeachCare programs, public health and trauma care, and the state's role in implementing the Affordable Care Act.
Private Insurance Regulation
House Bill 47 is similar to legislation introduced in recent years to allow health insurance companies to sell health insurance products licensed in other states. This bill would allow Georgia insurers to offer policies they currently offer in other states, even if those policies do not cover services required under Georgia law. Effectively, this bill would allow insurers to sell plans to Georgians that do not cover certain benefits that must be covered by plans licensed in Georgia. The bill has been favorably reported from the House Insurance Committee.
Senate Bill 17 would create a Special Advisory Commission on Mandated Health Insurance Benefits, effective in 2012. The Commission would be charged with a variety of duties, including developing a system to asses the effect of mandated benefits taking into account the costs and impact of treatment and the cost savings to the health care system. In particular, the Commission would be charged with assessing the social and financial impact and the medical efficacy of new mandates when they are proposed. This bill has passed the Senate.
State Health Care Programs
House Bill 214 would create a new state Department of Public Health as a separate cabinet-level agency. In FY 2010, the Georgia Division of Public Health was moved into the Department of Community Health as part of the reorganization of the former Department of Human Resources. As part of the move, a commission was established to examine and make recommendations to the Legislature for the permanent placement of Georgia's public health functions. The Public Health Commission recommended the creation of a new agency; HB 214 implements this recommendation. The bill was reported favorably by the House Committee on Health and Human Services.
Senate Bill 63 would direct Georgia Medicaid program to create a new Medicaid smart card that includes recipient medical information as well as fingerprint identification to be used by all enrollees. The bill would require Medicaid clients to use the card at the point of service to receive benefits and would require providers to verify the patients identity using a fingerprint scanner to match information from the card. Prior to statewide implementation, the bill directs the agency to implement a pilot program in the following Georgia counties: Brantley, Camden, Glynn, Pierce, Ware, and Wayne. The bill is currently assigned to the Senate Health and Human Services Committee.
Senate Resolution 140 proposes a Constitutional Amendment to dedicate $10 from the current vehicle registration fee to a trauma trust fund, to be established by the Legislature. If passed, the amendment would be placed on the 2012 ballot for ratification. The resolution is assigned to the Senate Finance Committee.
Affordable Care Act
Several bills have been introduced that seek to prevent state agencies from, or limit the ways in which state agencies go about, implementing the Affordable Care Act. In particular, Senate Bills 20 and 25 seek to prevent agencies from implementing any portion of the law without approval from the legislature, while Senate Bill 23 would prevent agencies from proposing or adopting any administrative rules regarding the implementation or enforcement of the Affordable Care Act without legislative approval. All three of these bills have been assigned to the Senate Health and Human Services Committee.
In addition, Senate Bill 22 authorizes and directs the governor to seek a federal waiver of provisions that require health insurance plans to spend a certain amount of the premiums collected on health care services as opposed to administrative or marketing expenses. The portion of premiums directed to health care services is called the Medical Loss Ratio (MLR) and the Affordable Care Act sets new rules establishing minimum MLR requirements for health insurance plans. Even without this bill, the State Insurance Commissioner has the authority to seek a waiver to prevent the implementation of these provisions in Georgia and has indicated that the state will likely seek such a waiver. This bill has been assigned to the Senate Health and Human Services Committee.
