---
title: HB 660. State government; prohibit coverage of expenses for any transition related intervention under state health benefit plan or with any state funds
collection: bills
id: 2025-2026/hb660
cite_as: HB 660, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb660
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb660.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb660/text
source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/70939
date: 2025-03-03
status: introduced
corpus_version: bills-2026-09-12
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/hb660.md?full=1
bill_number: HB 660
session: 2025-2026 Regular Session
session_slug: 2025-2026
chamber: House
bill_type: bill
status_date: 2025-02-27
last_action: House Second Readers
sponsors:
- Brent Cox
- Rick Jasperse
- Carmen Rice
- Mitchell Scoggins
- Lauren McDonald
text_version: Introduced
has_text: true
legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/HB660/2025
upstream_id: 1987847
summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5
topic_tags:
- transgender healthcare
- state health benefit plan
- Medicaid coverage
- gender-affirming care
- state employee benefits
---
# HB 660. State government; prohibit coverage of expenses for any transition related intervention under state health benefit plan or with any state funds
## Text
House Bill 660
By: Representatives Cox of the 28th, Jasperse of the 11th, Rice of the 139th, Scoggins of the
14th, and McDonald III of the 26th
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
To amend Chapter 18 of Title 45, Chapter 4 of Title 49, and Chapter 1 of Title 50 of the
Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to the employees' insurance and benefits plans,
public assistance, and general provisions relative to state government, respectively, so as to
prohibit coverage of expenses for any transition related intervention under the state health
benefit plan or with any state funds; to provide for definitions; to prohibit state healthcare
facilities and healthcare providers employed by the state from providing any transition
related intervention; to prohibit correctional facilities owned or operated by the state and
healthcare providers employed at such facilities from providing any transition related
intervention; to provide for related matters; to provide for legislative findings; to provide for
an effective date; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
SECTION 1.
The General Assembly finds that:
(1) The State of Georgia has taken measures to protect individuals from a radical gender
ideology that has, among other things, resulted in a massive unexplained rise in diagnoses
of gender dysphoria;
(2) Senate Bill 140 enacted by the General Assembly in the 2023 regular session broadly
banned procedures or treatments performed for the purpose of enabling a minor to
identify with or live as a purported identity inconsistent with such minor's sex or treating
purported discomfort or distress from a discordance between a minor's sex and asserted
identity, and similar bills from other states have been upheld by a federal appeals court;
and
(3) It is the policy of the State of Georgia that these procedures or treatments shall
neither be covered by the state health benefit plan nor otherwise paid for through the use
of any state funds.
SECTION 2.
Chapter 18 of Title 45 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to employees'
insurance and benefits plans, is amended by adding a new Code section to read as follows:
"45-18-4.2.
(a) As used in this Code section, the term:
(1) 'Congenital defect' means a physical or chemical abnormality present in a minor that
is inconsistent with the normal development of a human being of such minor's sex,
including abnormalities caused by a medically verifiable disorder of sex development.
Such term does not include gender dysphoria, gender identity disorder, gender
incongruence, or any mental condition, disorder, disability, or abnormality.
(2) 'Medical procedure' means a surgical procedure or nonsurgical treatment consisting
of:
(A) Surgically removing, modifying, altering, artificially constructing, or entering into
tissues, cavities, or organs of a human being; or
(B) Prescribing, administering, or dispensing any puberty blocker or supraphysiological
hormone dosage to a human being.
(3) 'Puberty blocker' means a drug or device that suppresses the production of hormones
in a minor's body to stop, delay, or suppress pubertal development.
(4) 'Sex' means an individual's immutable characteristics of the reproductive system that
define such individual as male or female, as determined by anatomy and genetics existing
at the time of birth.
(5) 'State health plan' means any healthcare benefits provided pursuant to Subpart 2 of
Part 6 of Article 17 of Chapter 2 of Title 20, Subpart 3 of Part 6 of Article 17 of
Chapter 2 of Title 20, Code Section 31-2-4, and Article 1 of Chapter 18 of this title.
(6) 'Transition related intervention' means any medical procedure performed for the
purpose of:
(A) Enabling an individual to identify with or live as a purported identity inconsistent
with such individual's sex; or
(B) Treating an individual's purported discomfort or distress from a discordance
between such individual's sex and asserted identity.
(b) On or after January 1, 2026, the state health plan shall not include expenses for any
transition related intervention except as provided in subsection (c) of this Code section.
(c) The board shall adopt rules and regulations regarding the exclusion of expenses for any
transition related intervention as provided for in subsection (b) of this Code section;
provided, however, that it is not a violation of this Code section if a healthcare provider
performs or administers a medical procedure for the purpose of treating:
(1) A minor's congenital defect, precocious puberty, disease, or physical injury;
provided, however, that the term 'disease' does not include gender dysphoria, gender
identity disorder, gender incongruence, or any mental condition, disorder, disability, or
abnormality; and
(2) Any infection, injury, disease, or disorder that has been caused or exacerbated by the
performance of a medical procedure, including a transition related intervention, whether
or not such procedure was performed in accordance with federal or state law; provided,
however, that the purpose of such medical procedure shall not be to continue any
transition related intervention for gender dysphoria, gender identity disorder, gender
incongruence, or any mental condition, disorder, disability, or abnormality."
SECTION 3.
Chapter 4 of Title 49 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to public assistance,
is amended by adding a new Code section to read as follows:
"49-4-159.5.
The department shall prohibit the coverage of any transition related intervention as
provided for in Code Section 45-18-4.2 for recipients of medical assistance."
SECTION 4.
Chapter 1 of Title 50 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to general
provisions relative to state government, is amended by adding a new Code section to read as
follows:
"50-1-14.
(a) No state funds shall be expended for health benefits coverage that includes coverage
for any transition related intervention as provided for in Code Section 45-18-4.2.
(b) No healthcare facility owned or operated by the state and no physician or other
healthcare provider employed by an agency or entity of this state shall provide any
transition related intervention as provided for in Code Section 45-18-4.2.
(c) No correctional facility owned or operated by the state and no physician or other
healthcare provider employed by such facility shall provide any transition related
intervention as provided for in Code Section 45-18-4.2 to any individual incarcerated at
such facility.
(d) Nothing in this Code section shall be construed as:
(1) Prohibiting any individual, entity, or local government from purchasing separate
coverage for any transition related intervention or health benefits coverage that includes
any transition related intervention, provided that such coverage is paid for entirely using
only funds not authorized or appropriated by the state; or
(2) Restricting the ability of any nonstate health benefits coverage provider from offering
coverage for any transition related intervention or the ability of a local government to
contract separately with such a provider for such coverage, provided that such coverage
is paid for entirely using only funds not authorized or appropriated by the state."
SECTION 5.
This Act shall become effective upon its approval by the Governor or upon its becoming law
without such approval.
SECTION 6.
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.
This Georgia House bill would bar the state health benefit plan, Medicaid, and any other state funds from paying for gender transition related medical care, and would stop state-run hospitals, clinics, and correctional facilities from providing it.
### Plain-language summary
Georgia currently offers health coverage to state employees, Medicaid recipients, and others through state-run programs. This bill would add new sections to Georgia law barring the state health benefit plan, the Medicaid program, and any other state funds from covering costs for what it calls a 'transition related intervention,' defined as surgery or hormone treatment (including puberty blockers) meant to help someone identify or live as a gender different from their sex at birth, or to treat distress from that mismatch.
Starting January 1, 2026, the state health plan could not include such coverage, with the state Board adopting rules for exceptions covering treatment of congenital defects, precocious puberty, disease, or injury (not including gender dysphoria itself). The bill also bans state-owned hospitals and clinics, state-employed healthcare providers, and state or local correctional facilities from providing these treatments, though it does not stop people or local governments from buying separate coverage using non-state funds. The law would take effect once the Governor signs it or it otherwise becomes law.
### What it does
- Bars the state health benefit plan from covering expenses for any 'transition related intervention' starting January 1, 2026, unless a Board-adopted exception applies.
- Requires the Department of Community Health to exclude transition related intervention coverage for Medicaid recipients under a new Code section (O.C.G.A. § 49-4-159.5).
- Prohibits any state funds from being spent on health coverage that includes transition related intervention, under a new O.C.G.A. § 50-1-14.
- Bans state-owned or state-operated healthcare facilities and state-employed healthcare providers from performing these procedures at all, not just from being paid by the state for them.
- Bans state or locally owned correctional facilities and their healthcare providers from giving these treatments to incarcerated people.
- Allows individuals, entities, or local governments to buy separate coverage for these treatments only if paid for entirely with non-state funds.
### Who it affects
State employees and retirees on the state health benefit plan, Medicaid recipients, healthcare providers and facilities owned or employed by the state, incarcerated people in state or local correctional facilities, and anyone seeking gender transition related medical care through state-funded coverage or state-run providers in Georgia.
### Why it matters
People covered by the state health plan or Medicaid would lose state-funded coverage for gender transition related care, and could not get such treatment from state-employed providers or in state or correctional facilities at all, even if paying privately, since the ban on facilities and providers is not limited to state funding.
### Key provisions
- Section 1 lays out legislative findings referencing Senate Bill 140 from 2023, which restricted these procedures for minors.
- Section 2 adds O.C.G.A. § 45-18-4.2, defining 'transition related intervention,' 'puberty blocker,' 'sex,' and other terms, and excludes coverage from the state health plan starting January 1, 2026.
- Section 2 also carves out exceptions for treating congenital defects, precocious puberty, disease, or injury, and for treating complications from a prior procedure, as long as the purpose is not to continue a transition related intervention.
- Section 3 adds O.C.G.A. § 49-4-159.5, directing the Department of Community Health to exclude this coverage for Medicaid recipients.
- Section 4 adds O.C.G.A. § 50-1-14, barring any state funds from paying for such coverage and barring state-owned facilities, state-employed providers, and correctional facilities from providing the treatments, with an exception for coverage paid entirely with non-state funds.
- Section 5 sets the effective date as upon the Governor's signature or the bill otherwise becoming law without a signature.
## Status
- Status: Introduced (2025-02-27)
- Last action: House Second Readers (2025-03-03)
- Sponsors: Brent Cox, Rick Jasperse, Carmen Rice, Mitchell Scoggins, Lauren McDonald
- Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/70939
> The history, votes, and amendments (129 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb660.md?full=1