---
title: HB 1058. Insurance; authorize tax-exempt organizations to be beneficiaries of employee group life insurance policies
collection: bills
id: 2025-2026/hb1058
cite_as: HB 1058, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1058
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1058.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1058/text
source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/72509
date: 2026-02-24
status: introduced
corpus_version: bills-2026-09-13
license: Public record of the Georgia General Assembly, via LegiScan; see about.md
publisher: Georgia Commons, an independent project of Georgia Civic Data. Not the State of Georgia. Not legal advice.
up: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026.md
previous: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1057.md
next: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1059.md
index: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/index.md
omitted: votes and history
omitted_chars: 199
omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1058.md?full=1
bill_number: HB 1058
session: 2025-2026 Regular Session
session_slug: 2025-2026
chamber: House
bill_type: bill
status_date: 2026-01-28
last_action: House Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute
sponsors:
  - Debbie Buckner
  - Vance Smith
  - Beth Camp
  - Carmen Rice
  - Leesa Hagan
  - Mary Oliver
text_version: Comm Sub
has_text: true
legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/HB1058/2025
upstream_id: 2100771
summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5
topic_tags:
  - group life insurance
  - nonprofit organizations
  - employee benefits
  - insurance law
---

# HB 1058. Insurance; authorize tax-exempt organizations to be beneficiaries of employee group life insurance policies

## Text

The House Committee on Insurance offers the following substitute to HB 1058:
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
To amend Chapter 27 of Title 33 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to
group life insurance, so as to authorize tax-exempt organizations to be beneficiaries of
employee group life insurance policies; to provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting
laws; and for other purposes.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
SECTION 1.
Chapter 27 of Title 33 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to group life
insurance, is amended in Code Section 33-27-1, relating to group requirements generally, by
revising paragraph (1) as follows:
"(1) Employee groups. A policy issued to an employer or to the trustees of a fund
established by an employer, which employer or trustee shall be deemed the policyholder,
to insure employees of the employer for the benefit of persons other than the employer
<ins>unless the employer both qualifies as a tax-exempt organization under Section 501(c)(3)
of the Internal Revenue Code and is designated as a beneficiary under such policy in
writing by the insured employee,</ins> subject to the following requirements:
(A) The employees eligible for insurance under the policy shall be all of the employees
of the employer or all of any class or classes thereof determined by conditions
pertaining to their employment. The policy may provide that the term 'employees' shall
include the employees of one or more subsidiary corporations and the employees,
individual proprietors, and partners of one or more affiliated corporations, proprietors,
or partnerships, if the business of the employer and of such affiliated corporations,
proprietors, or partnerships is under common control through stock ownership or
contract or otherwise. The policy may provide that the term 'employees' shall include
the individual proprietor or partners if the employer is an individual proprietor or a
partnership. The policy may provide that the term 'employees' shall include retired
employees. No individual proprietor or partner shall be eligible for insurance under the
policy unless he <ins>or she</ins> is actively engaged in and devotes a substantial part of his <ins>or her
</ins> time to the conduct of the business of the proprietor or partnership. A policy issued to
insure the employees of a public body may provide that the term 'employees' shall
include elected or appointed officials;
(B) The premium for the policy shall be paid by the policyholder either from the
employer's own funds or from charges collected from the insured employee specifically
for such insurance or from funds contributed by both the employer and the employee.
A policy in which no part of the premium is to be derived from funds contributed by
the insured employee <del>must</del> <ins>shall</ins> insure each eligible employee, except for any
employee as to whom evidence of individual insurability is not satisfactory to the
insurer;
(C) The policy <del>must</del> <ins>shall</ins> cover at least two employees at date of issue; and
(D) The amounts of insurance under the policy <del>must</del> <ins>shall</ins> be based upon some plan
precluding individual selection either by the employees or by the employer or trustee."
SECTION 2.
All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.

## Summaries written by Georgia Commons

The following was written by claude-sonnet-5 from the text above and is not part of the bill. Quote the text, not the summary.

A House bill would let tax-exempt organizations, such as 501(c)(3) nonprofits, be named as beneficiaries of employee group life insurance policies when an employee designates them in writing, changing Georgia's group life insurance law (O.C.G.A. § 33-27-1).

### Plain-language summary

Under current Georgia law, group life insurance policies bought by an employer for its employees generally must benefit someone other than the employer itself; the employer typically cannot be named the beneficiary. This bill carves out an exception: if the employer is a tax-exempt organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the federal tax code, and the insured employee designates that employer in writing as the beneficiary, the employer can then be named on the policy.

The bill also makes small wording updates elsewhere in the same code section, adding gender-neutral language ('or she') and swapping the word 'must' for 'shall' in a few requirements about minimum coverage, insurability, and how coverage amounts are set. These are technical clarifications rather than substantive policy changes. The bill repeals any conflicting laws and does not state a delayed effective date.

### What it does

- Creates an exception letting a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt employer be named as the beneficiary of an employee's group life insurance policy, if the employee designates it in writing.
- Leaves in place the general rule that group life policies must benefit someone other than the employer, except for this new nonprofit exception.
- Updates gender references in the law covering proprietors and partners eligible for group coverage, adding 'or she' alongside 'he'.
- Replaces the word 'must' with 'shall' in provisions about insuring eligible employees, minimum group size, and how coverage amounts are determined, without changing their substance.
- Repeals any other Georgia laws that conflict with these changes.

### Who it affects

Nonprofit and charitable organizations organized as 501(c)(3) entities that offer group life insurance to their employees, the employees who can now choose to name their employer as a beneficiary, and insurance companies that write group life policies for these organizations.

### Why it matters

Employees at qualifying nonprofits would gain the option to designate their tax-exempt employer as the beneficiary of their group life insurance, something current law does not allow. This could let nonprofits receive insurance payouts tied to an employee's death, if the employee chooses to set it up that way.

### Key provisions

- Section 1 amends O.C.G.A. § 33-27-1(1), the definition of employee groups eligible for group life insurance, to add the tax-exempt organization beneficiary exception.
- The exception applies only if the employer qualifies as a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization and the insured employee designates it as beneficiary in writing.
- Other structural requirements for group policies are preserved: coverage of all employees in a class, minimum of two employees at issue, and no individual selection in setting coverage amounts.
- Section 2 repeals any conflicting laws, a standard provision with no independent policy effect.

## Status

- Status: Introduced (2026-01-28)
- Last action: House Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute (2026-02-24)
- Sponsors: Debbie Buckner, Vance Smith, Beth Camp, Carmen Rice, Leesa Hagan, Mary Oliver
- Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/72509

> The history, votes, and amendments (199 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1058.md?full=1