House Passes Several Bills
H.B. 918 by Rep. Mike Cheokas (R-Americus) would create the Georgia Rare Disease Advisory Council. MAG supports this legislation.
H.B. 937 by Rep. Sharon Henderson (D-Covington) would require insurers to notify insured women when they turn 40 of their coverage for mammograms. Notification would continue every year for as long as mammogram screening is recommended for the insured based on her individual health status, as determined by her physician. MAG supports this legislation.
H.B. 972 by Rep. Dave Belton (R-Buckhead) would make changes to the “Professional Counselors, Social Workers, and Marriage and Family Therapists Licensing Law.” MAG is neutral on this legislation.
H.B. 1404 by Rep. Robert Pruitt (R-Eastman) would direct the Department of Community Health to submit a waiver request to the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to authorize private institutions for mental disease to qualify for Medicaid reimbursement. MAG is neutral on this legislation.
H.B. 1425 by Rep. Bill Werkheiser would require the Georgia Access to Medical Cannabis Commission to redo the proposal process for production licenses. MAG’s Task Force on Medical Cannabis is reviewing this legislation.
H.B. 1483 by Rep. Matt Barton (R-Calhoun) would provide for licensure by endorsement in social work. MAG is neutral on this legislation.
H.B. 1520 by Rep. Lee Hawkins (R-Gainesville) would create the Georgia Council on Addressing Health Care Workforce Challenges. This 26-person council would include a “representative from a state-wide association representing physicians.” MAG supports this legislation.
H.B. 1533 by Rep. Mark Newton, M.D. (R-Augusta) would provide confidentiality protections to participants in a wellness program for health care workers that would be hosted by MAG. MAG supports this legislation.
Senate Passes Several Bills
S.B. 566 by Sen. Dean Burke, M.D. (R-Bainbridge) would clarify that, under the Surprise Billing Consumer Protection Act, a medical or traumatic condition, sickness, or injury includes a mental health condition or substance use disorder and that emergency medical services include post-stabilization services. MAG supports this legislation.
S.B. 573 by Sen. Matt Brass (R-Newnan) would require hospitals and ambulatory surgical centers to adopt a policy for the reduction of human exposure to surgical smoke. MAG is neutral on this bill.
S.B. 609 by Sen. Jeff Mullis (R-Chickamauga) was replaced by a floor amendment that would require the current pending licenses to be issued by May 31, 2022 and increase transparency of the Georgia Access to Medical Cannabis Commission. MAG’s Task Force on Medical Cannabis is reviewing this legislation.
Committee Activity
The House Health & Human Services Committee passed three bills that MAG supports. S.B. 341 by Sen. Kay Kirkpatrick, M.D., which would provide guidelines for the prior authorization of a prescribed medication for chronic conditions requiring ongoing medication therapy under certain circumstances. S.B. 342 by Sen. Kirkpatrick, M.D. would provide for annual reporting regarding mental health parity in health care plans. S.B. 403 by Sen. Ben Watson, M.D., which would pair mental health professionals with law enforcement to respond to certain calls that may benefit from the training of the mental health professional.
The Senate Health & Human Services Committee passed H.B. 1186 by Rep. Penny Houston (R-Nashville), which would change the age of initial identification of communication disorders from under three months to birth to 22 years of age. MAG supports this legislation.
The Senate HHS Committee also held several subcommittee hearings on H.B. 1013, the omnibus mental health bill, by Rep. David Ralston (R-Blue Ridge). The hearings this week provided an overview of the bill and focused on the sections related to mental health parity and the mental health workforce. MAG supports this legislation.
The Senate Insurance & Labor Committee passed H.B. 1324 by Rep. Beth Camp (R-Concord), which would clarify that the prudent layperson standard is not affected by the diagnoses given as far as it relates to insurance coverage. MAG supports this legislation.
A subcommittee of the Senate Insurance & Labor Committee also heard testimony but took no action on H.B. 867 by Rep. Mark Newton, M.D. (R-Augusta) that would require that 100 percent of the rebates that insurance plans and PBMs receive are passed along to patients at the pharmacy counter. This would not apply to self-insured plans under ERISA, Medicare, the State Health Benefit Plan, or Medicaid or PeachCare for Kids plans. MAG supports this legislation.
Rep. Ron Stephens (R-Savannah) introduced H.B. 1559, which is not eligible for action this session. This bill would have allowed a pharmacist who dispenses an opioid to inform the individual to whom the opioid is being dispensed of the potential dangers of a high dose of an opioid, as described by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and offer to dispense an opioid antagonist to the individual in accordance with rules and regulations adopted by the board. The pharmacist may provide patient counseling to the individual on how to use the opioid antagonist in the event of an overdose. MAG is opposed to this bill as it conflicts with the current standing order for naloxone that allows for naloxone to be dispensed regardless of other prescriptions being dispensed.
