HB660: HB660 State government; prohibit coverage of expenses for any transition related intervention under state health benefit plan or with any state funds

Georgia currently offers health coverage to state employees, Medicaid recipients, and others through state-run programs. This bill would add new sections to Georgia law barring the state health benefit plan, the Medicaid program, and any other state funds from covering costs for what it calls a 'transition related intervention,' defined as surgery or hormone treatment (including puberty blockers) meant to help someone identify or live as a gender different from their sex at birth, or to treat distress from that mismatch. Starting January 1, 2026, the state health plan could not include such coverage, with the state Board adopting rules for exceptions covering treatment of congenital defects, precocious puberty, disease, or injury (not including gender dysphoria itself). The bill also bans state-owned hospitals and clinics, state-employed healthcare providers, and state or local correctional facilities from providing these treatments, though it does not stop people or local governments from buying separate coverage using non-state funds. The law would take effect once the Governor signs it or it otherwise becomes law.

• Bars the state health benefit plan from covering expenses for any 'transition related intervention' starting January 1, 2026, unless a Board-adopted exception applies.
• Requires the Department of Community Health to exclude transition related intervention coverage for Medicaid recipients under a new Code section (O.C.G.A. § 49-4-159.5).
• Prohibits any state funds from being spent on health coverage that includes transition related intervention, under a new O.C.G.A. § 50-1-14.
• Bans state-owned or state-operated healthcare facilities and state-employed healthcare providers from performing these procedures at all, not just from being paid by the state for them.
• Bans state or locally owned correctional facilities and their healthcare providers from giving these treatments to incarcerated people.
• Allows individuals, entities, or local governments to buy separate coverage for these treatments only if paid for entirely with non-state funds.

State employees and retirees on the state health benefit plan, Medicaid recipients, healthcare providers and facilities owned or employed by the state, incarcerated people in state or local correctional facilities, and anyone seeking gender transition related medical care through state-funded coverage or state-run providers in Georgia.

People covered by the state health plan or Medicaid would lose state-funded coverage for gender transition related care, and could not get such treatment from state-employed providers or in state or correctional facilities at all, even if paying privately, since the ban on facilities and providers is not limited to state funding.

• Section 1 lays out legislative findings referencing Senate Bill 140 from 2023, which restricted these procedures for minors.
• Section 2 adds O.C.G.A. § 45-18-4.2, defining 'transition related intervention,' 'puberty blocker,' 'sex,' and other terms, and excludes coverage from the state health plan starting January 1, 2026.
• Section 2 also carves out exceptions for treating congenital defects, precocious puberty, disease, or injury, and for treating complications from a prior procedure, as long as the purpose is not to continue a transition related intervention.
• Section 3 adds O.C.G.A. § 49-4-159.5, directing the Department of Community Health to exclude this coverage for Medicaid recipients.
• Section 4 adds O.C.G.A. § 50-1-14, barring any state funds from paying for such coverage and barring state-owned facilities, state-employed providers, and correctional facilities from providing the treatments, with an exception for coverage paid entirely with non-state funds.
• Section 5 sets the effective date as upon the Governor's signature or the bill otherwise becoming law without a signature.

1. 2025-03-03House Second Readers (House)
2. 2025-02-28House First Readers (House)
3. 2025-02-27House Hopper (House)

• Brent Cox (R, HD-028)Primary sponsor
• Rick Jasperse (R, HD-011)
• Carmen Rice (R, HD-139)
• Mitchell Scoggins (R, HD-014)
• Lauren McDonald (R, HD-026)

• transgender healthcare
• state health benefit plan
• Medicaid coverage
• gender-affirming care
• state employee benefits