February 3, 2023

This Week’s Legislative Actions

 Monday, January 30^th marked Legislative Day 9, and following several legislative days of Committee assignments and adoption of Committee Rules, both legislation and the state budget are kicking into gear for committee debate, approval, transmission to the House and Senate Rules Committees for consideration, and if green-lighted, will move their way to the floor for debate in the bill’s respective chamber.

PASSED BY THE HOUSE

HB 18:  Amended Fiscal Year 2023 (AFY23) Appropriations Act

• The Amended FY2023 Appropriations Act (HB 18) carried by the Chamber’s new Appropriations Committee Chairman, Matt Hatchett (R-Dublin), passed the House on Thursday by a vote of 170 – 1. As a two-part appropriations process, the “amended budget” provides the opportunity for lawmakers to “true up” expenditures based upon projections that were included in this year’s spending bill when passed last spring.  The General Assembly also authorizes one-time funds for special projects and initiatives that will not necessarily carry over to subsequent years as part of the base budget that will begin on July 1^st.  HB 18 now heads to the Senate Appropriations Committee for members to begin their work on the amended budget over the next few weeks.

Notable items for hospitals contained in the AFY2023 Appropriations Act as approved by the House include:

Health Care Access and Improvement

1. • Funds for a study of the need for rural hospital services in SW Georgia. ($25 thousand)
   • Funds to provide additional beds for housing through Area Health Education Centers (AHEC).  ($184 thousand)
   • Funds to support the psychiatric and internal medicine resident learning and work centers at St. Francis Hospital. ($778 thousand)

Healthcare Facility Regulation

1. • Funding for the Department of Community Health to implement and regulate adult residential mental health program licensure established by HB1069 (2022 Session).  ($250 thousand)

State Health Benefit Plan (SHBP)

1. • $100 million in new state funds to reflect a three-year phase-in of an increase in the employer contribution per-member per-month for non-certified school employees, effective January 1, 2024.

Medical Education

1. • Residency capitation payments to St. Francis Hospital for their new internal medicine residency program. ($238 thousand)
   • Funding for nursing program recruitment in southwest Georgia. ($56 thousand)

Public Health

• Directive for the Georgia Coordinating Center to use existing funds to procure a HIPAA-secure multimodal software communication and patient logistics platform to provide multi-agency, multi-jurisdictional all-hazards response for emergency rooms and other critical care services statewide.

Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities

1. • Additional funding to support private psychiatric contract beds for adults. ($2 million)

1. • One-time gap funding for Georgia psychiatric residential treatment facilities receiving less than $500 per patient per day while under current cost report reimbursement methodology. ($600 thousand in state funds to DBHDD and recognized in the Medicaid Aged, Blind and Disabled program)

Following passage of HB 18 by the House, Senate Subcommittee on Appropriations will begin their work to refine the bill to reflect priorities of the “upper chamber.”

PASSED BY THE SENATE

No bills relevant to NGHS or hospitals passed the Senate.

MOVED THROUGH COMMITTEES

• SB1: Prohibits state and local governments from requiring proof of COVID-19 vaccination for government services (Sen. Dolezal (R) – Alpharetta)
  • The bill eliminates the existing June 30, 2023 automatic repeal of current law that prohibits any state, county, municipality, school district, or other political subdivision within Georgia from requiring proof of COVID-19 vaccination of any person as a condition of providing any service or access to any public facility.
  • The bill is not applicable if compliance would require a public entity to violate CMS regulations, or any federal contractual terms applying to applicable workplace locations in connection with a federal contract.

ON OUR RADAR (Non-exhaustive list)

Bill	Title/Description	Author	Status
HB46	Enhanced penalties for assault and battery against emergency medical personnel and healthcare workers in a hospital or healthcare facility	Sen. Au	Judiciary (Non-Civil) Committee
SB2	Extends expired preexisting statute to provide immunity from liability claims regarding COVID-19 indefinitely	Sen. Dolezal	Judiciary Committee
SB16	The “Georgia EMS Reform Act”	Sen. Albers	HHS Committee
SB20	The “Surprise Billing Consumer Protection Act”	Sen. Kirkpatrick	Insurance and Labor Committee
SB46	Requires physicians and healthcare providers to test all pregnant women for HIV and syphilis at first prenatal visit	Sen. Hufstetler	HHS Committee
SB65	Authorizes the Insurance Commissioner to establish a Georgia State-Based or State-Federal Health Insurance Exchange (Kemp Administration Bill)	Sen. Watson	TBD
HB85	Require Health Benefit Policy coverage of Biomarker testing if supported by medical and scientific evidence	Rep. Cooper	Insurance Committee
HB76	Licensing provisions regarding professional counselors, social workers, and marriage and family therapists; revises provisions related to education, experience, and training requirements for licensure in marriage and family therapy	Rep. Powell	Regulated Industries Committee
HB82	Limiting eligibility for the rural physician tax credit to physicians qualifying as rural on or before 12/31/2023	Rep. Mack Jackson	Ways and Means Committee
Expected	Certificate of Need (CON) related legislation	TBD	TBD
Possible	Pharmacy White-Bagging legislation	TBD	TBD