HB 522: Health; prohibit certain health care providers and facilities from discriminating against potential organ transplant recipients due solely to their vaccine status

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.

• 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.

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.

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.

• 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.

1. 2026-01-29House Committee Favorably Reported (House)
2. 2025-04-04House Withdrawn, Recommitted (House)
3. 2025-02-28House Committee Favorably Reported (House)
4. 2025-02-21House Second Readers (House)
5. 2025-02-20House First Readers (House)
6. 2025-02-19House Hopper (House)

• Joseph Gullett (R, HD-019)Primary sponsor
• Mitchell Scoggins (R, HD-014)
• Karen Mathiak (R, HD-082)
• Matthew Gambill (R, HD-015)

• organ transplants
• vaccine mandates
• COVID-19 policy
• healthcare discrimination
• disability rights