HB925: HB925 The Georgia Maternal Health Momnibus Act; enact

Georgia has one of the nation's highest maternal mortality rates, and many rural counties lack hospitals with labor and delivery units. This bill, called the Georgia Maternal Health Momnibus Act, responds with a wide set of changes across several parts of Georgia law. It creates pilot programs for virtual prenatal care and mobile postpartum clinics in underserved counties, group prenatal and postpartum classes for low-income women, implicit bias training for perinatal healthcare workers, and a Medicaid doula care pilot. It requires health insurance to cover maternal mental health screening, sets up a Severe Maternal Morbidity Review Committee to track near-death pregnancy complications, expands the WIC nutrition program eligibility for young children (if funded), creates a grant program for maternal health nonprofits, requires employers to provide reasonable pregnancy accommodations with a right to sue for violations, and exempts diapers from sales tax. Several provisions depend on future state funding or automatically expire between 2027 and 2029.

• Creates multiple pilot programs (virtual prenatal care, mobile postpartum clinics, remote mental health screening, Medicaid doula coverage) for underserved counties, most contingent on legislative funding and set to expire between 2026 and 2029.
• Requires health insurance policies to cover maternal mental health screening and treatment during pregnancy and 12 months postpartum starting January 1, 2026.
• Requires perinatal healthcare facilities to train staff on implicit bias (unconscious prejudice affecting patient care) and creates a Regional Perinatal Center Advisory Committee to evaluate hospital maternity care access.
• Creates a new labor law (O.C.G.A. Title 34, Chapter 5B) requiring employers to provide reasonable accommodations for pregnancy and related conditions, with a civil lawsuit option for violations.
• Exempts diaper sales from Georgia's sales and use tax by changing an existing tax code exemption.
• Establishes a Severe Maternal Morbidity Review Committee to track near-fatal pregnancy complications and requires hospitals, pharmacies, and providers to share records with maternal death review committees.

Pregnant and postpartum women, especially in rural counties without maternity hospitals; health insurers; hospitals and perinatal care providers; Medicaid recipients; doulas; employers statewide who must provide pregnancy accommodations; and state agencies including the Department of Public Health and Department of Labor.

Georgians in maternity care deserts could gain access to telehealth prenatal visits, doula support, and mental health screening they currently lack. Employers would face new legal obligations toward pregnant workers, and families buying diapers would pay no sales tax, while several programs depend on the legislature actually funding them.

• Section 2-2 creates a three-year telemedicine prenatal care pilot in counties with few obstetric providers, contingent on funding and repealed by December 1, 2029.
• Section 2-3 adds mobile postpartum care clinics, group prenatal and postpartum classes, mandatory implicit bias training for perinatal staff, and a public maternal health awareness campaign.
• Section 2-4 establishes the Regional Perinatal Center Advisory Committee (11 to 21 members) to review hospital labor and delivery capacity every four years.
• Section 2-5 requires insurance coverage for maternal mental health screening and treatment starting January 1, 2026.
• Section 2-6 creates a Medicaid doula care pilot program beginning July 1, 2026, offering up to five reimbursed doula visits, terminating December 31, 2027.
• Section 3-2 creates the Supporting Healthy Moms Grant Program for nonprofits addressing maternal health and early childhood services, subject to available funding.
• Section 3-4 creates a new pregnancy workplace accommodation law allowing employees to sue employers who fail to provide reasonable accommodations, with back pay and attorney's fees available.
• Section 3-5 exempts diaper sales from state sales and use tax by replacing the current 'Reserved' placeholder in O.C.G.A. § 48-8-3(58).

1. 2026-01-12House Second Readers (House)
2. 2025-04-04House First Readers (House)
3. 2025-04-04House Hopper (House)

• Park Cannon (D, HD-058)Primary sponsor
• Tanya Miller (D, HD-062)
• Sandra Scott (D, HD-076)
• Debra Bazemore (D, HD-069)
• Carolyn Hugley (D, HD-141)
• Mekyah McQueen (D, HD-061)

• maternal health
• pregnancy discrimination
• Medicaid
• health insurance coverage
• sales tax exemption