HB612: HB612 Behavioral Health Coordinating Council; add member

Georgia law already sets up a Behavioral Health Coordinating Council made up of state agency heads and appointed experts who advise on mental health, developmental disability, and addiction services. This bill rewrites part of that law (O.C.G.A. § 37-2-4) to add a state senator and a state representative to the council's membership, alongside the existing commissioners and appointees. The bill also creates a new parity compliance review panel inside the council (O.C.G.A. § 37-2-12). The panel would include several commissioners or their designees plus mental health clinicians, executives, and advocates appointed by the Governor, the Senate President, and the House Speaker. Health care providers would be required to report suspected violations of Georgia's mental health parity laws to this panel. The panel would set up a complaint process, evaluate reports, and recommend punishment to the Insurance Commissioner or the Department of Community Health. The council would advise the panel, and the panel could build a support team if funding allows.

• Adds a member of the House of Representatives and a member of the Senate to the Behavioral Health Coordinating Council's membership.
• Creates a new parity compliance review panel made up of state commissioners or their designees, clinicians, health system executives, and advocates.
• Requires licensed health care providers to report suspected mental health parity violations by health insurers to the new panel.
• Directs the panel to build a complaint process, evaluate complaints, and recommend punitive action to the Insurance Commissioner or the Department of Community Health.
• Authorizes the panel to request more information from insurers, create consumer education materials, and coordinate with the Governor's office and state agencies.
• Allows the panel to build a support team for research and report writing if funding is available.

The bill affects members of the Behavioral Health Coordinating Council, including numerous state commissioners; the legislature (which gains two new appointees to the council); health care providers licensed under Title 43 or regulated hospitals and facilities, who must now report suspected violations; and health insurance companies subject to Georgia's mental health parity laws.

By requiring providers to report suspected parity violations and giving a panel authority to recommend penalties, the bill creates a more formal mechanism for catching and addressing cases where insurers cover mental health care less generously than physical health care.

• Section 1 amends O.C.G.A. § 37-2-4 to add a House member appointed by the Speaker and a Senate member appointed by the President of the Senate to the coordinating council.
• Section 1 also states the council will serve in an advisory role to the new parity compliance review panel.
• Section 2 creates O.C.G.A. § 37-2-12, establishing the parity compliance review panel with four ex officio commissioner seats and six appointed seats (clinicians, executives, and advocates).
• Section 2 requires health care providers to report suspected insurer violations of mental health parity requirements found in O.C.G.A. §§ 33-1-27 and 33-21A-13.
• Section 2 directs the panel to create a complaint intake process, evaluate complaints, and recommend punitive actions to the Insurance Commissioner or the commissioner of community health.
• Section 2 authorizes the panel to request more data from insurers, produce educational materials in multiple languages and formats, and coordinate with state agencies on enforcement criteria.
• Section 2 allows the panel, subject to available funding, to establish a support team for research and report preparation.
• Section 3 repeals any conflicting laws.

1. 2025-03-04Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
2. 2025-03-03House Passed/Adopted (House)
3. 2025-03-03House Third Readers (House)
4. 2025-02-28House Committee Favorably Reported (House)
5. 2025-02-26House Second Readers (House)
6. 2025-02-24House First Readers (House)
7. 2025-02-24House Hopper (House)

• Katie Dempsey (R, HD-013)Primary sponsor
• Karen Mathiak (R, HD-082)
• Todd Jones (R, HD-025)
• Mary Oliver (D, HD-084)
• Sharon Cooper (R, HD-045)

1. PassedHouse voteMarch 3, 2025

   170 yea, 2 nay (3 not voting, 5 absent)

   Passage: House Vote #137

• mental health parity
• health insurance regulation
• behavioral health policy
• state government boards