HB929: HB929 Public Health, Department of; three-year pilot program for dietetics services for public elementary and secondary school students and patients at federally qualified health centers; provide

Georgia currently has no dedicated state program to pay for dietitian visits for public school students or patients at community health clinics known as federally qualified health centers. This bill would add a new section to the Official Code of Georgia Annotated directing the Department of Public Health, working with the Department of Education, to set up a three-year pilot program offering dietetics services to those groups. The program would reimburse up to five dietitian visits per eligible person, at up to $200 per visit, subject to available state funding. The department would have to file a detailed report to the Governor and General Assembly by June 30, 2027 and every year after, with a final report recommending whether to expand or make the program permanent. The pilot and the law creating it would automatically end on June 30, 2029 unless lawmakers act again.

• Creates a new three-year pilot program at the Department of Public Health to provide dietitian services to public elementary and secondary school students and patients at federally qualified health centers.
• Directs the Department of Public Health to run the program in collaboration with the Department of Education.
• Sets reimbursement at up to $200 per visit for up to five dietitian visits per eligible person, subject to available state funding.
• Requires an annual written report to the Governor and General Assembly starting June 30, 2027, including recommendations on making the program permanent.
• Automatically ends the pilot program and repeals the new law on June 30, 2029 unless the legislature extends it.
• Authorizes the department to write rules and regulations needed to carry out the program.

Public elementary and secondary school students, patients at federally qualified health centers, licensed dietitians who provide the reimbursed visits, and the Department of Public Health and Department of Education, which must jointly design and run the pilot program.

If enacted, some Georgia students and clinic patients could get up to five dietitian visits paid for at a set state rate, potentially expanding access to nutrition counseling. Because funding depends on legislative appropriations and the program expires in 2029, its actual reach and permanence remain uncertain.

• Adds new Code Section 31-2A-21 to Title 31, Chapter 2A, Article 1 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, covering the Department of Public Health.
• Subsection (a) defines 'dietetics,' 'dietitian' (requiring at least one year of practice experience), 'eligible recipient,' and 'federally qualified health center' using the federal definition in 42 U.S.C. Section 1395x(aa)(4).
• Subsection (b) requires the pilot program to begin June 30, 2026, and caps reimbursement at five visits per eligible recipient at up to $200 per visit, subject to available funding.
• Subsection (c) requires annual reports to the Governor and General Assembly starting June 30, 2027, with the final report addressing whether to expand or make the program permanent.
• Subsection (d) lets the department issue rules and regulations to implement the program.
• Subsection (e) sets the pilot program's termination and the Code section's automatic repeal for June 30, 2029.

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

• Karen Lupton (D, HD-083)Primary sponsor
• Marvin Lim (D, HD-098)

• public health
• school health services
• nutrition programs
• federally qualified health centers
• pilot programs