Georgia CommonsHB 323: Bridging the Gap for ALS and Chronic Kidney Disease Act of 2025; enact
Last action March 31, 2026 · Senate Tabled
A Georgia Senate substitute for HB 323 would require insurers and other benefit providers to give treating healthcare providers a written accounting of payments made to injured patients, within 30 days of a request.
The summaries below were written by an AI model (claude-sonnet-5) from the text of the bill and are not part of it. Quote the text, not the summary. The stored text is the Comm Sub version, the latest LegiScan holds.
In plain language
Currently, when a patient (called an 'injured party' in this bill) receives payments or reimbursements from an insurer or other benefit provider after being hurt by someone else's actions, the healthcare provider who treated them may not easily learn what the benefit provider actually paid the patient for that treatment. This bill adds a new section to Georgia's insurance code (O.C.G.A. Title 33, Chapter 3) to fix that gap. The bill defines 'benefit provider' broadly to include insurers, health maintenance organizations, health benefit plans, preferred provider organizations, and employee benefit plans that pay for healthcare expenses, disability, or lost wages. It defines 'injured party' as someone who says they were hurt by another party's acts and who received payments from a benefit provider, including that person's estate representative. Once a treating healthcare provider sends a written request, the benefit provider has 30 days to give a written accounting of all payments and reimbursements made to the injured party for that provider's services. The law would take effect as soon as the Governor signs it, or automatically becomes law without his signature.
What the bill does
- Adds a new Georgia Code section (33-3-28.1) requiring benefit providers to disclose payment information to treating healthcare providers on request.
- Defines 'benefit provider' to include insurers, HMOs, health benefit plans, preferred provider organizations, and employee benefit plans that pay healthcare, disability, or lost wage benefits.
- Defines 'injured party' as a person claiming injury by a third party who has received payments from a benefit provider, including that person's estate representative.
- Sets a 30 day deadline for a benefit provider to send a written accounting of payments and reimbursements after a treating healthcare provider requests it in writing.
- Repeals any existing Georgia laws that conflict with this new disclosure requirement.
Who it affects
Insurers, health maintenance organizations, health benefit plans, preferred provider organizations, and employee benefit plans that pay healthcare or injury-related benefits; treating healthcare providers who bill for services given to injured patients; and patients (or their estates) who have filed claims after being injured by someone else.
Why it matters
Healthcare providers often struggle to confirm whether an injured patient's insurer or benefit plan already paid for treatment, which can complicate billing and payment disputes, especially in personal injury cases. This bill would give providers a legal right to get that payment information directly from the benefit provider within a set timeframe.
Key provisions
- Section 1 adds new Code section 33-3-28.1 to Title 33, Chapter 3 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, which governs insurance transactions.
- Subsection (a) defines 'benefit provider,' 'injured party,' and 'treating healthcare provider' for purposes of the new disclosure requirement.
- Subsection (b) requires a benefit provider to give a treating healthcare provider a written accounting of all payments and reimbursements made to an injured party for that provider's services, within 30 days of a written request.
- Section 2 sets the effective date as the date the Governor signs the bill, or the date it becomes law without his signature.
- Section 3 repeals any Georgia laws that conflict with the new requirement.
From the bill
“Within 30 days of a written request from a treating healthcare provider, a benefit provider shall provide to such treating healthcare provider a written accounting of any and all payments and reimbursements made to an injured party for such treating healthcare provider's healthcare services to such injured party.”
Status timeline
- Senate Tabled (Senate)
- Senate Read Second Time (Senate)
- Senate Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute (Senate)
- Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
- House Passed/Adopted (House)
- House Third Readers (House)
- House Committee Favorably Reported (House)
- House Second Readers (House)
Show full history (10 actions)
- House First Readers (House)
- House Hopper (House)
Sponsors
- Karen Mathiak (R, HD-082)
- Lee Hawkins (R, HD-027)
- Mark Newton (R, HD-127)
- Katie Dempsey (R, HD-013)
- Sharon Cooper (R, HD-045)
- Mack Jackson (D, HD-128)
- Randy Robertson (R, SD-029)
Votes
- House voteMarch 6, 2025
174 yea, 2 nay (1 not voting, 3 absent)
- Senate voteMarch 31, 2026
39 yea, 10 nay (2 not voting, 3 absent)
Topics
- health insurance
- medical billing
- healthcare providers
- personal injury claims
- insurance regulation