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House · Engrossed · 2025-2026 Regular Session

HB 87: Insurance; require health benefit policy coverage for medically necessary orthotic and prosthetic devices and their materials and components

Last action March 23, 2026 · Senate Read Second Time

A Senate substitute for House Bill 87 would require Georgia insurance policies to clearly list deductibles, annual premiums, taxes, and fees on declarations pages and billing notices, starting January 1, 2027, even though the bill's title still refers to orthotic and prosthetic device coverage.

Read the full bill text

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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 Comm Sub version, the latest the General Assembly's website lists.

In plain language

Although HB 87 was originally introduced to require health insurance coverage for medically necessary orthotic and prosthetic devices, the Senate Committee on Insurance and Labor replaced its content with a substitute focused on insurance billing transparency. The substitute adds a new section to Georgia's insurance code (O.C.G.A. Title 33) requiring that every insurance policy's declarations page and premium billing notice clearly show specific financial details. Insurers would have to disclose the deductible as both a dollar amount and a percentage, the annual premium, the state insurance premium tax, local county and municipal taxes on insurance companies, and any additional fees, charges, or surcharges. These disclosure rules would apply to policies issued, delivered, or renewed in Georgia on or after January 1, 2027, when the law would take effect.

What the bill does

  • Adds a new Code section (O.C.G.A. 33-24-14.2) requiring insurance declarations pages and premium billing notices to disclose specific financial details.
  • Requires insurers to show the policy deductible as both a dollar amount and a percentage.
  • Requires insurers to state the annual premium and the state insurance premium tax as a dollar amount and percentage.
  • Requires disclosure of county and municipal corporation taxes on insurance companies as a dollar amount and percentage.
  • Requires disclosure of any additional fees, charges, or surcharges tied to the policy.
  • Sets the effective date as January 1, 2027, applying to all policies issued, delivered, or renewed in Georgia on or after that date.

Who it affects

Insurance companies operating in Georgia, which must redesign declarations pages and billing notices, and Georgia policyholders across insurance types, who would receive clearer breakdowns of what they pay in premiums, deductibles, taxes, and fees.

Why it matters

Georgians buying or renewing insurance policies after January 1, 2027 would see itemized breakdowns of deductibles, premiums, taxes, and fees rather than a single bundled cost, making it easier to understand exactly what portion of their bill goes toward taxes and surcharges versus coverage costs.

Key provisions

  • Section 1 adds new Code section 33-24-14.2 to Title 33 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, listing five required disclosures on declarations pages and premium billing notices.
  • The deductible must appear as both a dollar figure and a percentage, not just one or the other.
  • State insurance premium taxes and local county and municipal taxes on insurance companies must each be itemized separately as dollar amounts and percentages.
  • Any other fees, charges, or surcharges tied to the policy must also be disclosed.
  • Section 2 sets the effective date at January 1, 2027, applying to policies issued, delivered, or renewed on or after that date.
  • Section 3 repeals any conflicting state laws.

From the bill

“The declarations page and premium billing notice for any policy issued, delivered, issued for delivery, or renewed in this state shall clearly indicate:”

This is the core requirement establishing what insurers must disclose to policyholders.

“(5) Any fees, charges, or surcharges.”

This catch-all provision requires disclosure of extra costs beyond the listed taxes and premiums.

Discussed in meetings (5)

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.

  1. Senate Insurance and Labor Committee, March 19, 2026

    From 0:34:57 · Watch on the General Assembly's Vimeo channel

    Summary by Georgia Commons: The presenter explained that the substitute replaced the original prosthetic-coverage proposal with insurance disclosure requirements. The presenter said the lieutenant governor’s office intended to address prosthetic funding another way. The substitute would require premiums to identify state and county premium taxes and show percentage-based wind and hail deductibles as dollar amounts. The presenter said consumers may mistake a percentage of the home’s insured value for a percentage of the claim, citing a 1% deductible on a $2 million home that meant $20,000 out of pocket. A witness for the Association of County Commissioners of Georgia said cities also collect premium taxes and asked that they be considered. The witness said counties must report how the money is spent and may use it only for specified services or property-tax relief, while cities do not face the same reporting requirements. Asked why the requirements differ, the witness said they did not know. A committee member said residents should have comparable access to city spending information and suggested addressing the difference later. No amendment was offered, and the committee unanimously approved the substitute.

  2. Senate Rules Committee, March 25, 2026

    From 0:30:27 · Watch on the General Assembly's Vimeo channel

    Summary by Georgia Commons: The presenter said the prosthetics provisions previously associated with HB 87 had been handled another way and replaced with insurance transparency provisions. The presenter said the revised bill would show percentage-based deductibles as dollar amounts and separately identify state and local taxes on bills. No substantive questions or action followed.

  3. Senate Rules Committee, March 30, 2026

    From 0:56:16 · Watch on the General Assembly's Vimeo channel

    Summary by Georgia Commons: A presenting senator said HB 87 would show consumers the state tax they pay on insurance and express percentage-based deductibles as dollar amounts. A member asked for the number to be repeated. It was not included in the final calendar.

Status timeline

  1. 2026-03-23Senate Read Second Time (Senate)
  2. 2026-03-20Senate Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute (Senate)
  3. 2025-03-10Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
  4. 2025-03-06House Passed/Adopted By Substitute (House)
  5. 2025-03-06House Third Readers (House)
  6. 2025-02-26House Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute (House)
  7. 2025-01-27House Second Readers (House)
  8. 2025-01-17House First Readers (House)
Show full history (9 actions)
  1. 2025-01-16House Hopper (House)

Sponsors

  • David Clark (R, HD-100)Primary sponsor
  • Marcus Wiedower (R, HD-121)
  • Karen Mathiak (R, HD-82)
  • Noel Williams, Jr. (R, HD-148)
  • Kim Schofield (D, HD-63)
  • Steven Sainz (R, HD-180)
  • Marty Harbin (R, SD-16)

Votes

  1. PassedHouse voteMarch 6, 2025

    171 yea, 2 nay (2 not voting, 5 excused)

    PASSAGE: House Vote #241

Topics

  • insurance transparency
  • insurance premiums
  • insurance fees and taxes
  • consumer protection

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Machine-readable https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb87.md · https://georgiacommons.org/bills/index.md · MCP https://mcp.georgiacommons.org/mcp