Georgia CommonsHouse · Introduced · 2025-2026 Regular Session
HB 522: Health; prohibit certain health care providers and facilities from discriminating against potential organ transplant recipients due solely to their vaccine status
Last action January 29, 2026 · House Committee Favorably Reported
House Bill 522 would extend Georgia's existing organ transplant anti-discrimination law, currently protecting people with disabilities, to also bar hospitals and transplant programs from denying organs based solely on a patient's COVID-19 vaccination status.
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 Introduced version, the latest the General Assembly's website lists.
In plain language
Georgia already has a law, O.C.G.A. section 31-1-24, that stops hospitals, doctors, and organ-matching entities (called 'covered entities') from denying someone an organ transplant, a spot on a waiting list, or related medical care just because the person has a disability. House Bill 522 adds a new protected category to that same law: vaccine status for COVID-19. The bill defines COVID-19 and 'vaccine status' (whether someone has received a COVID-19 vaccine or series of vaccines) and inserts that term throughout the existing protections. Covered entities could no longer refuse to list, prioritize lower, deny services to, or refuse insurance coverage for a potential transplant recipient solely because of their vaccination status. The bill keeps the existing civil enforcement process, letting an affected individual sue for injunctive relief, but it does not create a right to money damages. It also makes minor wording cleanups elsewhere in the section.
What the bill does
- Adds 'vaccine status' as a protected category in Georgia's organ transplant anti-discrimination law, alongside disability.
- Defines 'COVID-19' and 'vaccine status' in the statute so the new protection applies specifically to COVID-19 vaccination history.
- Bars covered entities from denying transplant eligibility, waiting list placement, referrals, medical services, or insurance coverage based solely on vaccine status.
- Keeps the existing civil lawsuit remedy (injunctive relief only, no damages) and extends it to vaccine-status violations.
- Leaves intact the exception allowing a covered entity to consider a medically significant factor identified by a physician's evaluation.
Who it affects
Hospitals, transplant centers, licensed healthcare practitioners, nursing and intermediate care facilities, and organ-matching entities in Georgia, as well as patients seeking organ transplants, particularly those who are unvaccinated or under-vaccinated against COVID-19.
Why it matters
If enacted, unvaccinated patients could not be refused a transplant, moved down a waiting list, or denied related care and insurance coverage solely because they lack a COVID-19 vaccination, giving them the same legal recourse already available to patients facing disability-based discrimination in transplant decisions.
Key provisions
- Section 1 rewrites O.C.G.A. section 31-1-24 to add a new definition of 'COVID-19' referencing the virus and the Governor's March 14, 2020 public health emergency declaration.
- Section 1 adds a definition of 'vaccine status' meaning whether a person received a specific COVID-19 vaccination or series.
- Section 1 amends subsection (b)(2) so covered entities cannot deny eligibility, services, referrals, waiting list placement, priority position, or insurance coverage based solely on vaccine status, mirroring existing disability protections.
- Subsection (b)(3) retains an exception letting providers factor in a condition found medically significant by a physician's evaluation, though it still references disability rather than vaccine status specifically.
- Subsection (c) preserves the civil enforcement mechanism, allowing affected individuals to sue for injunctive and equitable relief but not compensatory or punitive damages.
- Section 2 repeals any conflicting laws.
From the bill
“'Vaccine status' means whether or not an individual has received a specific vaccination or series of vaccinations for COVID-19.”
“A covered entity shall not, solely on the basis of an individual's disability or vaccine status:”
Discussed in meetings (3)
The House and Senate meetings that took this bill up, from their machine transcripts. Each account was written by Georgia Commons with AI and is not part of the record; the video is what was said.
House Health Committee, January 28, 2026
From 0:10:49 · Watch on the General Assembly's Vimeo channel
Summary by Georgia Commons: The sponsor said the bill would prohibit denying an organ transplant solely because of COVID-19 vaccination status when a patient otherwise qualifies. One member argued that the measure could undermine confidence in vaccination and asked about limiting protections to religious or other exemptions. The sponsor said COVID-19 vaccination had become politicized and that the bill was not a general rejection of vaccines. A second member raised concerns about transplant recipients’ suppressed immune systems, scarce organs and risks to other patients waiting for transplants. The sponsor maintained that vaccination status alone should not determine eligibility. Asked whether protections might later expand to other vaccines, the sponsor said the bill addressed only COVID-19. The chair supported preserving access to transplants. Another member asked about medical organizations’ support, and the sponsor said none had been requested. A witness said a hospital stopped a kidney-transplant evaluation solely because the witness declined COVID-19 vaccination, despite a physician’s recommendation against vaccination, an antibody test and a religious exemption letter. The witness urged passage to protect medical and religious freedom. The committee approved the bill 11-6.
House Rules Committee, February 2, 2026
From 0:26:42 · Watch on the General Assembly's Vimeo channel
Summary by Georgia Commons: The sponsor said HB 522 would prohibit using COVID-19 vaccination status as the sole reason to deny placement on an organ transplant list, while preserving medical professionals’ authority to assess suitability, risks and outcomes. One member asked whether medical organizations supported it; the sponsor knew of none. A second member questioned its scientific basis and whether lawmakers were overriding medical judgment for political reasons. The sponsor cited differing hospital policies and testimony from a 41-year-old parent with kidney failure who was denied listing at one Georgia hospital but accepted at another. The sponsor argued that otherwise suitable patients should not be excluded solely for declining the vaccine. Another member supported preventing blanket exclusions while retaining other transplant criteria. A further member asked whether vaccination status could still be considered alongside other health conditions; the sponsor said yes. No calendar action was shown.
Status timeline
- House Committee Favorably Reported (House)
- House Withdrawn, Recommitted (House)
- House Committee Favorably Reported (House)
- House Second Readers (House)
- House First Readers (House)
- House Hopper (House)
Sponsors
- Joseph Gullett (R, HD-19)
- Mitchell Scoggins (R, HD-14)
- Karen Mathiak (R, HD-82)
- Matthew Gambill (R, HD-15)
Topics
- organ transplants
- vaccine mandates
- COVID-19 policy
- healthcare discrimination
- disability rights