In other noteworthy developments…
The Senate Health and Human Services (HHS) Committee passed a bill (S.B. 256) by Sen. Dean Burke, M.D., that would give the Georgia Commissioner of Public Health the sole authority to hire district public health directors in the state. Language allowing regional public health directors to have an M.P.H. degree – as opposed to being a physician – was removed from this legislation. MAG will continue to watch this legislation, which is headed to the Senate Rules Committee.
The Senate Judiciary Committee did not pass two bills by Sen. Bill Cowsert (R-Athens). S.B. 189, which failed in a 4-5 vote, would have required that all trials be bifurcated (i.e., separate trials for liability and damages), while S.B. 190 would have eliminated phantom damages in med-mal trials. (Phantom damages is the difference between what a patient is billed and pays for their care, which can translate into much higher awards.) MAG support both bills, which are likely dead in these forms for this year’s session.
The House HHS passed four bills this week, including…
– H.B. 567 by Rep. Sharon Cooper (R-Marietta), which would create the Newborn Screening and Genetics Advisory Committee to review and make recommendations to the Georgia Department of Public Health when a new disorder is added to the federal Recommended Uniform Screening Panel. MAG is monitoring this legislation, which is headed to the House Rules Committee.
– H.B. 653 by Rep. Rick Jasperse (R-Jasper), which would allow pharmacists to administer and interpret the results of COVID-19 antigen and serology tests for a one-year period after the conclusion of the federal public health emergency. Before it was amended, this bill would have allowed pharmacists to administer and interpret these test results with no end date. MAG is monitoring this legislation, which has been sent to the House Rules Committee.
– H.R. 188 by Rep. Kim Schofield (D-Atlanta), which would support the creation of the State Workgroup to Increase Chronic Disease Information and Screenings in Communities of Color. MAG supports this legislation, which is moving into the House Rules Committee.
The House Regulated Industries Committee passed a bill (H.B. 645) by Rep. Micah Gravely (R-Douglasville) that would update the accessibility provisions of the state’s medical cannabis law. MAG is reviewing this legislation, which is on its way to the House Rules Committee.
The House Insurance Committee passed a bill (S.B. 4) by Sen. Kay Kirkpatrick, M.D., that would 1) “prohibit kickbacks, commissions, bribes, benefits, rebates, and bonuses by substance abuse care providers or solicited by substance abuse care providers to induce referral of a patient and outlaws fraudulent marketing techniques designed to deceive individuals into expensive long term recovery facilities” and 2) prohibit “high-tech drug testing” (i.e., testing an individual’s specimen for numerous substances and billing and receiving payment separately for each substance that is tested). MAG supports this legislation, which is moving into the House Rules Committee.
The House Special Committee on Access to Quality Health Care passed a bill (H.B. 164) by Rep. Demetrius Douglas (D-Stockbridge) that would require health insurers to provide their enrollees with no less than 80 percent of the prescription drug rebates that are related to the enrollee’s prescriptions that the insurer receives from third parties when the patient pays 100 percent of the premium. MAG supports this legislation, which will go to the House Rules Committee as a next step.
