--- title: HB 830. Insurance; establish State Oversight Board within office of the Commissioner of Insurance collection: bills id: 2025-2026/hb830 cite_as: HB 830, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.) canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb830 md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb830.md text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb830/text source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/71626 date: 2025-03-28 status: introduced corpus_version: bills-2026-08-28 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. up: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026.md previous: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb829.md next: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb831.md index: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/index.md omitted: votes and history omitted_chars: 129 omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb830.md?full=1 bill_number: HB 830 session: 2025-2026 Regular Session session_slug: 2025-2026 chamber: House bill_type: bill status_date: 2025-03-25 last_action: House Second Readers sponsors: - Arlene Beckles - Robert Flournoy - Spencer Frye - Al Williams - Robert Dawson - Segun Adeyina text_version: Introduced has_text: true legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/HB830/2025 upstream_id: 2014689 summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5 topic_tags: - health insurance - insurance regulation - prior authorization - patient rights - insurance oversight --- # HB 830. Insurance; establish State Oversight Board within office of the Commissioner of Insurance ## Text 25 LC 52 0766 House Bill 830 By: Representatives Beckles of the 96th, Flournoy of the 74th, Frye of the 122nd, Williams of the 168th, Dawson of the 65th, and others A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT To amend Title 33 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to insurance, so as to1 establish the State Oversight Board within the office of the Commissioner of Insurance; to2 provide for the membership, duties, and powers of such board; t o provide for rules and3 regulations; to provide for insurer liability for certain delay s or denials in healthcare4 coverage; to provide for a private cause of action; to provide for related matters; to provide5 for an effective date; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.6 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:7 SECTION 1.8 Title 33 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to insurance, is amended in9 Chapter 2, relating to department and Commissioner, by adding a new Code section to read10 as follows:11 "33-2-35.12 (a) There is established within the office of the Commissioner the State Oversight Board. 13 The board shall be composed of nine members, as follows:14 (1) Three healthcare professionals, including physicians and nurses, to be appointed by15 the Speaker of the House of Representatives;16 H. B. 830 - 1 - 25 LC 52 0766 (2) Three hospital administration officials, to be appointed b y the President of the17 Senate;18 (3) Two members with experience in the public sector, to be appointed by the Governor;19 and20 (4) One member representing the office of the Commissioner as designated by the21 Commissioner; provided that such member shall not be the Commissioner.22 (b) Appointed members shall serve for a period of three years. The members shall elect23 a chairperson and vice chairperson from among their membership whose duties shall be24 established by the board.25 (c) The board shall fix a time and place for regular meetings, provided that the board shall26 meet at least quarterly.27 (d) Board members shall receive no compensation for their services but shall be allowed28 actual and necessary expenses in the performance of their duties. Any legislative members29 of the board shall receive the allowances provided for in Code Section 28-1-8. Citizen30 members shall receive a daily expense allowance in the amount specified in subsection (b)31 of Code Section 45-7-21 as well as the mileage or transportation allowance authorized for32 state employees. If any members selected to serve on the board are state officials, other33 than legislative members, or are state employees, they shall receive no compensation for34 their services on the board but shall be reimbursed for expense s incurred in the35 performance of their duties as members of the board in the same manner as reimbursements36 are made in their capacity as state officials or state employees. The funds necessary for the37 reimbursement of the expenses of state officials, other than legislative members, and state38 employees shall come from funds appropriated to or otherwise available to their respective39 departments.40 (e) The board shall advise the office of the Commissioner on m atters related to health41 insurers' denials and delays in healthcare coverage in this state. The board shall:42 H. B. 830 - 2 - 25 LC 52 0766 (1) Develop and promulgate rules and regulations to govern health insurance practices43 within this state;44 (2) Have access to any and all information, including, but not limited to, documents,45 materials, forms, rate filings, and data, submitted by health insurers to the office of the46 Commissioner; provided, however, that confidential treatment of such submissions shall47 be preserved;48 (3) Review data and identify any trends, issues, and concerns regarding health insurance49 premiums, healthcare coverage, prior authorization practices, a nd patient access to50 healthcare services;51 (4) Investigate health insurer denials or delays in healthcare coverage, compensation to52 healthcare providers, and patient access to healthcare services; and53 (5) Take action, including imposing fines or other penalties, against health insurers that54 violate federal or state law, state regulations, or otherwise c ommit practices that are55 harmful to consumers.56 (f) The board, no later than June 30, 2026, and annually there after, shall submit to the57 Commissioner a report of its activities and recommendations for further action by the58 Commissioner.59 (g) Every health insurer shall submit to the board such data as required and requested by60 the board so that the board can perform its duties as provided in subsection (e) of this Code61 section.62 (h) Any meetings held by the board shall be open to the public and subject to Chapter 1463 of Title 50, relating to open meetings. Any rules and regulati ons shall be adopted,64 established, promulgated, amended, repealed, filed, and publish ed by the board in65 accordance with the applicable provisions and procedures set forth in Chapter 13 of Title66 50, the 'Georgia Administrative Procedure Act.'67 (i) The Commissioner shall promulgate any rules and regulations necessary to implement68 the provisions of this Code section."69 H. B. 830 - 3 - 25 LC 52 0766 SECTION 2.70 Said title is further amended in Article 2 of Chapter 46, relating to prior authorizations, by71 adding a new Code section to read as follows:72 "33-46-29.1.73 (a) An insurer shall be liable for harm caused to a covered pe rson for the unnecessary74 delay in or wrongful denial of healthcare coverage caused by th e act or inaction of the75 insurer or the insurer's private review agent or utilization review entity.76 (b) Any covered person who suffers harm as provided in subsect ion (a) of this Code77 section may bring an action against the insurer and may recover or obtain against such78 insurer:79 (1) Actual damages;80 (2) Equitable relief;81 (3) Punitive damages;82 (4) Reasonable attorney fees and costs; and83 (5) Any other relief that the court deems proper.84 (c) An insurer shall notify the office of the Commissioner and the State Oversight Board85 of any actions filed against it pursuant to this Code section."86 SECTION 3.87 This Act shall become effective on July 1, 2025.88 SECTION 4.89 All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.90 H. B. 830 - 4 - ## 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. A Georgia House bill would create a nine-member State Oversight Board inside the Insurance Commissioner's office to investigate health insurance denials and delays, and would let patients sue insurers over wrongful denials. ### Plain-language summary Georgia currently has no dedicated board focused specifically on how health insurers handle coverage denials and delays, or prior authorization practices. This bill would add a new State Oversight Board within the office of the Commissioner of Insurance (O.C.G.A. § 33-2-35), made up of healthcare professionals, hospital administrators, public sector appointees, and one office representative. The board would review data from health insurers, investigate denials and delays in coverage, write new rules for health insurance practices, and could fine insurers that break the law or harm consumers. It must report to the Commissioner by June 30, 2026, and every year after that. The bill also creates a new legal right (O.C.G.A. § 33-46-29.1): patients harmed by an insurer's unnecessary delay or wrongful denial of coverage could sue for actual damages, punitive damages, equitable relief, and attorney fees. Insurers would have to report any such lawsuits to the Commissioner and the new board. The law would take effect July 1, 2025. ### What it does - Creates a nine-member State Oversight Board inside the Insurance Commissioner's office to oversee health insurer denials and delays in coverage. - Gives the board power to write binding rules for health insurance practices in Georgia and to fine insurers that violate the law or harm consumers. - Requires health insurers to submit data to the board on request and requires the board to report to the Commissioner every year starting June 30, 2026. - Creates a new private right for patients to sue insurers for wrongful denial or unnecessary delay of healthcare coverage, allowing actual damages, punitive damages, and attorney fees. - Requires insurers to notify the Commissioner and the new board whenever such a lawsuit is filed against them. - Sets board meetings and rulemaking under Georgia's open meetings law and Administrative Procedure Act, and takes effect July 1, 2025. ### Who it affects Health insurers operating in Georgia, patients and policyholders seeking healthcare coverage, physicians, nurses, and hospital administrators who could serve on the board, the Insurance Commissioner's office, and the Governor, House Speaker, and Senate President, who would make board appointments. ### Why it matters Patients denied or delayed coverage would gain a state board dedicated to investigating those practices and a new legal avenue to sue insurers for damages. Insurers would face new reporting duties, potential fines, and lawsuits, changing the stakes around denying or delaying claims. ### Key provisions - Section 1 adds O.C.G.A. § 33-2-35, creating the State Oversight Board with three healthcare professionals (appointed by the House Speaker), three hospital administrators (appointed by the Senate President), two public sector members (appointed by the Governor), and one Commissioner's office representative. - Board members serve three-year terms, receive no salary but get expense reimbursement, and the board must meet at least quarterly and elect its own chair and vice chair. - The board can access confidential insurer data submitted to the Commissioner, investigate denials and delays, and impose fines or penalties on insurers that violate the law or harm consumers. - The board must submit an annual report to the Commissioner starting no later than June 30, 2026, and its meetings and rulemaking follow Georgia's open meetings law and Administrative Procedure Act. - Section 2 adds O.C.G.A. § 33-46-29.1, making insurers liable for harm from unnecessary delay or wrongful denial of coverage and allowing patients to sue for actual damages, equitable relief, punitive damages, and attorney fees. - Insurers must notify the Commissioner and the board whenever a lawsuit under this new section is filed against them. - Section 3 sets the effective date as July 1, 2025. ## Status - Status: Introduced (2025-03-25) - Last action: House Second Readers (2025-03-28) - Sponsors: Arlene Beckles, Robert Flournoy, Spencer Frye, Al Williams, Robert Dawson, Segun Adeyina - Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/71626 > The history, votes, and amendments (129 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb830.md?full=1