--- title: HB 866. Community Health, Department of; pilot program to improve management of inpatient insulin levels in rural hospital organizations; provide collection: bills id: 2025-2026/hb866 cite_as: HB 866, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.) canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb866 md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb866.md text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb866/text source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/71711 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/hb865.md next: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb867.md index: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/index.md omitted: votes and history omitted_chars: 129 omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb866.md?full=1 bill_number: HB 866 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: - Matt Barton - Darlene Taylor - Lee Hawkins - Sharon Cooper - Mark Newton text_version: Introduced has_text: true legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/HB866/2025 upstream_id: 2014667 summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5 topic_tags: - rural hospitals - diabetes care - hospital funding - health department programs - insulin management --- # HB 866. Community Health, Department of; pilot program to improve management of inpatient insulin levels in rural hospital organizations; provide ## Text 25 LC 57 0258 House Bill 866 By: Representatives Barton of the 5th, Taylor of the 173rd, Hawkins of the 27th, Cooper of the 45th, and Newton of the 127th A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT To amend Chapter 2 of Title 31 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to the1 Department of Community Health, so as to provide for a pilot pr ogram to improve the2 management of inpatient insulin levels in rural hospital organizations and for other purposes;3 to provide that such program be conducted by the Rural Health System Innovation Center;4 to provide for a grant program; to provide for the center to es tablish grant criteria and5 amounts; to provide for a report; to provide for definitions; to provide for automatic repeal;6 to provide for related matters; to provide for an effective date conditioned on appropriations;7 to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.8 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:9 SECTION 1.10 Chapter 2 of Title 31 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to the Department11 of Community Health, is amended by revising Code Section 31-2-2, relating to definitions,12 as follows:13 "31-2-2.14 As used in this chapter, the term:15 H. B. 866 - 1 - 25 LC 57 0258 (1) 'Board' means the Board of Community Health established un der Code16 Section 31-2-3.17 (2) 'Center' means the Rural Health System Innovation Center established under Code18 Section 31-2-16 within the department's State Office of Rural Health.19 (2)(3) 'Commissioner' means the commissioner of community health established under20 Code Section 31-2-6.21 (3)(4) 'Department' means the Department of Community Health established under Code22 Section 31-2-4.23 (4)(5) 'Predecessor agency or unit' means the Department of Communit y Health, the24 Division of Public Health of the Department of Human Resources, and the Office of25 Regulatory Services of the Department of Human Resources.26 (5)(6) 'State health benefit plan' means the health insurance plan a uthorized under27 Article 1 of Chapter 18 of Title 45 and Part 6 of Article 17 of Chapter 2 of Title 20.28 (6)(7) 'State Personnel Board' means the board established under Article IV, Section III29 of the Constitution."30 SECTION 2.31 Said chapter is further amended by adding a new Code section to read as follows:32 "31-2-16.1.33 (a) As used in this Code section, the term 'rural hospital organization' shall have the same34 meaning as provided in Code Section 31-8-9.1.35 (b) The center shall conduct a pilot program to improve the ma nagement of inpatient36 insulin levels in rural hospital organizations, reduce adverse patient incidents, and provide37 data on insulin management to primary care physicians upon patient discharge.38 (c)(1) Consistent with the pilot program's purposes as provided for in subsection (b) of39 this Code section, the center may establish a grant program to utilize and disburse40 funding to rural hospital organizations and physician groups to purchase technology,41 H. B. 866 - 2 - 25 LC 57 0258 software, and equipment to track and manage inpatient insulin levels, receive specialty42 consultation and training in appropriate management of inpatient insulin levels in rural43 hospital settings, and to carry out any other purpose of the pilot program.44 (2) The center shall establish grant criteria and make award d ecisions; provided,45 however, that the center shall consider the following:46 (A) A high presence of diabetes in patients presenting for treatment at the rural hospital47 organization;48 (B) A commitment by the rural hospital organization to utilize technology enabled49 tools to track inpatient insulin levels and improve precision in administering insulin;50 (C) A structured partnership with a larger health system or ph ysician practice group51 with expertise in endocrinology and diabetes management to assi st the rural hospital52 organization in using data from technology to improve patient care; and53 (D) An established plan to provide primary care physicians wit h data on insulin54 management for their patients upon discharge to reduce hospital readmission and55 improve outpatient outcomes.56 (d) The pilot program established pursuant to this Code section shall be abolished and this57 Code section shall stand repealed on January 1, 2027.58 (e) No later than December 31, 2026, upon the receipt of data collected from the pilot59 program, the center shall file a report to the Governor, the Pr esident of the Senate, the60 Speaker of the House of Representatives, and the chairpersons of the House Committee on61 Health, the Senate Health and Human Services Committee, the Hou se Committee on62 Appropriations, the Senate Appropriations Committee, and the Office of Health Strategy63 and Coordination. Such report shall include a summary detailing the outcomes of the pilot64 program and shall also be published and made available and accessible to the public."65 H. B. 866 - 3 - 25 LC 57 0258 SECTION 3.66 (a) This Act shall become effective only if funds are specific ally appropriated for the67 purposes of this Act in an Appropriations Act enacted by the General Assembly.68 (b) If funds are so appropriated, then this Act shall become effective on the later of:69 (1) The date on which such Appropriations Act becomes effective; or70 (2) The beginning date of the fiscal year for which such appropriations are made.71 SECTION 4.72 All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.73 H. B. 866 - 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 temporary grant program to help rural hospitals better manage insulin levels for hospitalized diabetes patients, run through the state's Rural Health System Innovation Center. ### Plain-language summary Georgia law does not currently have a dedicated program to help rural hospitals track and manage insulin dosing for hospitalized patients. This bill would add a new section to the Department of Community Health's governing law (O.C.G.A. Title 31, Chapter 2) creating a pilot program aimed at improving inpatient insulin management, reducing bad patient outcomes, and giving primary care doctors insulin data when patients are discharged. The Rural Health System Innovation Center, housed in the department's State Office of Rural Health, would run the program and could give grants to rural hospitals and physician groups to buy tracking technology, get specialist training, and partner with larger health systems. The center would set its own grant criteria, considering factors like local diabetes rates and hospital partnerships with endocrinology experts. The program would automatically end on January 1, 2027, after a public report is filed by December 31, 2026. The whole Act only takes effect if the General Assembly specifically appropriates funding for it. ### What it does - Creates a new pilot program at the Rural Health System Innovation Center to improve how rural hospitals manage insulin levels for hospitalized patients. - Allows the center to set up a grant program giving money to rural hospitals and physician groups for insulin-tracking technology, staff training, and specialist partnerships. - Directs the center to set its own criteria for awarding grants, weighing factors like local diabetes rates and partnerships with endocrinology experts. - Requires a public report to the Governor, legislative leaders, and several committees by December 31, 2026 summarizing the program's results. - Automatically abolishes the pilot program and repeals the new law on January 1, 2027. - Makes the entire Act take effect only if the General Assembly specifically appropriates funding for it in a budget act. ### Who it affects Rural hospitals classified as rural hospital organizations under Georgia law, physician groups partnering with them, hospitalized patients with diabetes, primary care doctors who receive discharge data, and the Department of Community Health's Rural Health System Innovation Center, which would administer the grants. ### Why it matters If funded, rural hospitals could get money and technology to better track insulin dosing for patients, potentially reducing dangerous dosing errors and hospital readmissions, while primary care doctors would get more data to manage patients after they leave the hospital. ### Key provisions - Section 1 amends the definitions in O.C.G.A. ยง 31-2-2 to add the Rural Health System Innovation Center as a defined term within the Department of Community Health's chapter. - Section 2 adds new Code Section 31-2-16.1, directing the center to run a pilot program on inpatient insulin management in rural hospital organizations. - Subsection (c) lets the center create a grant program funding technology, training, and specialist consultation, and lists four factors the center must consider when awarding grants. - Subsection (d) automatically abolishes the pilot program and repeals the Code section on January 1, 2027. - Subsection (e) requires a report by December 31, 2026 to the Governor, legislative leaders, several committees, and the public summarizing program outcomes. - Section 3 makes the Act effective only if the General Assembly specifically appropriates funding for it, tied to the relevant Appropriations Act or fiscal year. ## Status - Status: Introduced (2025-03-25) - Last action: House Second Readers (2025-03-28) - Sponsors: Matt Barton, Darlene Taylor, Lee Hawkins, Sharon Cooper, Mark Newton - Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/71711 > The history, votes, and amendments (129 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb866.md?full=1