The Conference Committee report on the FY 2012 budget (HB 78) was approved on April 12 (39th legislative day).  The governor has 40 days from the last day of the legislative session to sign HB 78 and to issue his line item vetoes.

  

GBPI analysis of the health care, education, and human services portions of the FY 2012 budget will be forthcoming.

Following a three year tax holiday, from 2002 forward, Georgia policymakers passed legislation to suppress employer state UI tax increases that would have built back the unemployment trust fund. HB 292 continues to suppress the automatic overall rate increase through 2012, but gives the DOL commissioner discretion to increase the overall rate by a maximum of 50 percent (an increase over last year's maximum of 35 percent), a discretion which the former DOL commissioner never exercised.

Several health care bills were introduced in the 2011 session that sought to address a wide variety of health care issues. Many of these bills failed to win final passage. Below are a few bills GBPI followed closely during the session.

 

Private Insurance Regulation

 

HB 47 passed to allow insurance companies in Georgia to sell health insurance policies they currently offer in other states, even if those policies do not cover services required under Georgia law. In general, the law requires the Georgia Insurance Commissioner to approve any insurance policy from another state that applies under the new law; however, the bill was amended late in the session to give the Insurance Commissioner greater discretion in approving such plans.  

 

SB 17 passed to 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 assess the effect of mandated benefits taking into account the costs and impact of treatment and the cost savings to the health care system.

 

State Health Care Programs

 

HB 214 passed to establish a new state Department of Public Health as a separate cabinet-level agency reporting directly to the governor. This bill implements a recommendation by a special commission created to help guide the long-term structure of the state's public health activities. The final FY 2012 budget also separates the appropriations for the new department from the Department of Community Health. 

 

SB 63 originally sought to require Medicaid recipients to submit to fingerprinting to prove their identify when seeking medical care. The bill underwent several changes during the session, but failed to win final passage in the House. The bill will remain in committee when the 2012 Legislative Session commences in January.    

 

Affordable Care Act

 

Several bills were introduced that dealt with the state's role in implementing the Affordable Care Act. 

 

One notable bill that did not survive was HB 476, which would have created the Georgia Health Insurance Exchange Authority as the governing body for the state health insurance exchange required under the Affordable Care Act. The governor has indicated that he will use executive authority to create an advisory committee to study the issue and make recommendations to the state on how to proceed.