---
title: HB 1427. State employees; require state health benefit plan to cover cranial prostheses for certain covered persons
collection: bills
id: 2025-2026/hb1427
cite_as: HB 1427, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1427
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1427.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1427/text
source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/73530
date: 2026-02-26
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.
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omitted: votes and history
omitted_chars: 129
omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1427.md?full=1
bill_number: HB 1427
session: 2025-2026 Regular Session
session_slug: 2025-2026
chamber: House
bill_type: bill
status_date: 2026-02-24
last_action: House Second Readers
sponsors:
- Inga Willis
- Omari Crawford
- Tanya Miller
- Park Cannon
text_version: Introduced
has_text: true
legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/HB1427/2025
upstream_id: 2123533
summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5
topic_tags:
- state employee health insurance
- cranial prostheses
- alopecia coverage
- cancer treatment support
- health insurance mandates
---
# HB 1427. State employees; require state health benefit plan to cover cranial prostheses for certain covered persons
## Text
House Bill 1427
By: Representatives Willis of the 55th, Crawford of the 89th, Miller of the 62nd, and Cannon
of the 58th
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
To amend Article 1 of Chapter 18 of Title 45 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated,
relating to state employees' health insurance plan and post-employment health benefit fund,
so as to require the state health benefit plan to cover cranial prostheses for certain covered
persons experiencing partial or complete loss of body hair; to provide for definitions; to
provide for cost-sharing requirements; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
SECTION 1.
Article 1 of Chapter 18 of Title 45 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to
state employees' health insurance plan and post-employment health benefit fund, is amended
by adding a new Code section to read as follows:
"45-18-4.3.
(a) As used in this Code section, the term:
(1) 'Alopecia' means the partial or complete loss of body hair caused by a severe
autoimmune condition. Such term includes alopecia totalis, alopecia universalis,
ophiasis, other alopeicia areata, and alopecia areata, unspecified.
(2) 'Cost-sharing requirement' means a deductible, coinsurance, or copayment and any
maximum limitation on the application of such a deductible, coinsurance, copayment, or
similar out-of-pocket expense.
(3) 'Covered person' means an individual covered under the state health benefit plan.
(4) 'Cranial prosthesis' means a medical wig or hairpiece.
(5) 'State health benefit plan' means the health insurance plan or plans established
pursuant to this article, for public school teachers and employees, dependents, and
retirees pursuant to Part 6 of Article 17 of Chapter 2 of Title 20, and for members,
employees, dependents, and retirees of the Board of Regents of the University System of
Georgia pursuant to Code Section 31-2-4.
(b) Beginning January 1, 2027, the state health benefit plan shall include coverage for
cranial prostheses for any covered persons experiencing permanent or temporary full or
partial hair loss when such prostheses are prescribed by a licensed provider for use as part
of a course of rehabilitative treatment for a diagnosed health condition, illness, or injury,
including, but not limited to, alopecia, cancer, hair loss after cancer treatments such as
chemotherapy or radiation, or scalp injuries.
(c) The benefits of the state health benefit plan as provided in subsection (b) of this Code
section shall be subject to the same cost-sharing requirements established for other covered
benefits within such state health benefit plan. Special deductibles, coinsurance, copayment,
or other limitations that are not generally applicable to other medical devices or services
covered by the state health benefit plan shall not be imposed regarding such benefits."
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.
HB1427 would require Georgia's state health benefit plan, which covers state employees, teachers, university system staff, and retirees, to pay for cranial prostheses (medical wigs) for people losing hair due to illness or treatment.
### Plain-language summary
Currently the state health benefit plan, which covers state employees, public school teachers, University System of Georgia staff, and retirees, is not required to pay for medical wigs or hairpieces used by people who lose their hair because of illness. This bill adds a new section to Georgia law (O.C.G.A. § 45-18-4.3) requiring the plan to cover cranial prostheses, defined as medical wigs or hairpieces, for covered people experiencing partial or full hair loss.
The coverage applies when a licensed provider prescribes the prosthesis as part of rehabilitative treatment for a diagnosed condition, such as alopecia, cancer, hair loss from chemotherapy or radiation, or scalp injuries. The plan can apply its normal deductibles, coinsurance, and copayments to this benefit, but it cannot impose special limits that do not apply to other covered medical devices or services. The requirement would begin January 1, 2027.
### What it does
- Adds a new Code section (O.C.G.A. § 45-18-4.3) requiring the state health benefit plan to cover cranial prostheses (medical wigs or hairpieces) starting January 1, 2027.
- Defines alopecia broadly to include several forms of the autoimmune hair-loss condition, and extends coverage beyond alopecia to hair loss from cancer treatment or scalp injuries.
- Limits the benefit to prostheses prescribed by a licensed provider as part of rehabilitative treatment for a diagnosed health condition, illness, or injury.
- Allows the plan to apply its normal deductibles, coinsurance, and copayments to this benefit but bars any special cost limits not applied to other covered medical devices or services.
- Repeals any existing state laws that conflict with this new requirement.
### Who it affects
State employees, public school teachers and staff, University System of Georgia employees, and retirees covered by the state health benefit plan, particularly those with alopecia, cancer, or other conditions causing hair loss. It also affects the agencies that administer the state health benefit plan.
### Why it matters
People on the state health benefit plan who lose their hair from conditions like alopecia or cancer treatment would gain a guaranteed path to insurance coverage for medical wigs, rather than having to pay out of pocket or seek coverage that may not currently exist, though normal deductibles and copays would still apply.
### Key provisions
- Section 1 adds O.C.G.A. § 45-18-4.3, defining 'alopecia,' 'cost-sharing requirement,' 'covered person,' 'cranial prosthesis,' and 'state health benefit plan.'
- Subsection (b) requires coverage beginning January 1, 2027 for covered persons with permanent or temporary, full or partial hair loss when prescribed by a licensed provider for rehabilitative treatment.
- Subsection (c) applies the plan's standard cost-sharing rules to this benefit and prohibits special deductibles, coinsurance, or copayment limits not applied to other covered medical devices or services.
- Section 2 repeals any conflicting state laws.
## Status
- Status: Introduced (2026-02-24)
- Last action: House Second Readers (2026-02-26)
- Sponsors: Inga Willis, Omari Crawford, Tanya Miller, Park Cannon
- Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/73530
> The history, votes, and amendments (129 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1427.md?full=1