HB 1106: Nursing Home Supplemental Fund; establish and provide a purpose

This bill would add a new section to Georgia law (O.C.G.A. § 31-2-20) establishing the Nursing Home Supplemental Fund inside the Department of Community Health. The fund's purpose is to provide financial assistance, such as loans, loan guarantees, and grants, to nursing homes facing financial distress because of cuts to federal Medicaid funding. To qualify, a nursing home would need to document actual revenue losses of more than $1 million in a fiscal year that are directly tied to a reduction or elimination of federal Medicaid funding taking effect on or after July 4, 2025. The department would set eligibility rules, run an application process, and report annually to the Governor and legislature starting October 1, 2027. The whole law only takes effect if the General Assembly specifically appropriates money for it, and it would automatically expire December 31, 2031 if that funding never happens.

• Creates the Nursing Home Supplemental Fund within the Department of Community Health to help financially distressed nursing homes.
• Allows the fund to provide loans, loan guarantees, and grants, not just direct payments, to eligible nursing homes.
• Requires nursing homes to show revenue losses over $1 million in a fiscal year tied to federal Medicaid funding cuts starting July 4, 2025.
• Directs the department to create eligibility rules, an application process, and regulations to run the program.
• Requires an annual public report to the Governor and General Assembly beginning October 1, 2027.
• Makes the law effective only if the legislature specifically appropriates funding for it, and repeals it automatically by December 31, 2031 if no funding is ever appropriated.

Nursing homes licensed in Georgia that lose significant Medicaid revenue, the residents and staff who depend on those facilities staying open, the Department of Community Health, which would run the fund, and the General Assembly, which must appropriate money before the program can start.

If funded, struggling nursing homes could get loans or grants to stay open despite Medicaid funding cuts, which could affect care for residents. But because the law only takes effect with a specific budget appropriation, its real-world impact depends entirely on future legislative funding decisions.

• Section 1 adds new Code section 31-2-20 defining 'Fund' and 'nursing home' and establishing the Nursing Home Supplemental Fund.
• Subsection (b) states the fund's purpose is financial assistance to financially distressed nursing homes.
• Subsection (c) requires the department to seek and administer grants or funds, set eligibility criteria including documented losses over $1 million tied to Medicaid funding cuts on or after July 4, 2025, and run an application process.
• Subsection (d) requires an annual report to the Governor and General Assembly starting October 1, 2027, published on the department's website.
• Subsection (e) authorizes the board to write rules and regulations to implement the program.
• Section 2 makes the entire Act contingent on a specific budget appropriation and sets automatic repeal on December 31, 2031 if no appropriation is made.

1. 2026-02-03House Second Readers (House)
2. 2026-02-02House First Readers (House)
3. 2026-01-29House Hopper (House)

• Bryce Berry (D, HD-056)Primary sponsor
• Tanya Miller (D, HD-062)
• Samuel Park (D, HD-107)
• Imani Barnes (D, HD-086)
• Karla Drenner (D, HD-085)
• Teddy Reese (D, HD-140)

• nursing homes
• Medicaid funding
• healthcare funding
• state budget
• elder care