Georgia CommonsHouse · Introduced · 2025-2026 Regular Session
HR 1393: House Study Committee on Rural Hospitals; create
Last action March 16, 2026 · House Committee Favorably Reported
A Georgia House resolution would create a nine-member study committee to examine the financial and staffing struggles of rural hospitals and recommend legislation for the 2027 session.
The summaries below were written by an AI model (claude-sonnet-5) from the text of the resolution and are not part of it. Quote the text, not the summary. The stored text is the Introduced version, the latest the General Assembly's website lists.
In plain language
This resolution creates the House Study Committee on Rural Hospitals, a temporary panel of the Georgia House of Representatives. The committee would have nine members: five House members appointed by the Speaker (at least three with healthcare backgrounds and at least two from the minority party), plus four citizen members representing rural hospital executives, doctors, other healthcare workers, and cost experts. The committee's job is to study the problems facing rural hospitals in Georgia, including financial struggles, staffing shortages, and lack of telemedicine or high speed internet access, and to recommend legislation for the 2027 session. Legislative members get standard travel allowances under Georgia law, and citizen members get a daily expense allowance and mileage reimbursement, capped at five days unless extended. The committee must file any findings before it is abolished on December 1, 2026.
What the bill does
- Creates the House Study Committee on Rural Hospitals, made up of nine members appointed by the Speaker of the House.
- Requires at least three of the five legislative members to have professional healthcare backgrounds and at least two to be from the minority party.
- Adds four citizen members: a rural hospital executive, a rural hospital doctor, another rural hospital healthcare worker, and a rural healthcare cost expert.
- Directs the committee to study rural hospital problems, including finances, staffing, telemedicine, and internet access, and recommend legislation.
- Sets daily expense and mileage allowances for committee members, capped at five days unless additional days are authorized.
- Abolishes the committee on December 1, 2026, requiring any approved findings to be filed with the Clerk of the House before that date.
Who it affects
Rural hospitals and their staff, including administrators, doctors, nurses, and other healthcare workers; residents of rural Georgia communities who rely on local hospitals for care; and members of the Georgia House of Representatives who will serve on or review the committee's recommendations.
Why it matters
Rural hospital closures have left many Georgians traveling long distances for care in obstetrics, cancer treatment, mental health, surgery, and emergencies. This study committee would gather information and propose legislative fixes, but it does not itself fund hospitals or change any law; any real change would depend on future legislation in 2027.
Key provisions
- Paragraph 1 creates the House Study Committee on Rural Hospitals.
- Paragraph 2 sets membership at nine: five legislators (with healthcare and minority party representation requirements) and four citizen representatives tied to rural hospital roles.
- Paragraph 3 directs the committee to study rural hospital conditions and recommend action or legislation.
- Paragraph 5 sets member allowances under O.C.G.A. §§ 28-1-8 and 45-7-21, capped at five days of allowances unless extended.
- Paragraph 6 requires any approved findings or recommendations to be filed as a report with the Clerk of the House before the committee is abolished.
- Paragraph 7 abolishes the committee on December 1, 2026.
From the bill
“the state of Georgia has one of the highest rates of rural hospital closures over the last ten years”
“There is created the House Study Committee on Rural Hospitals.”
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.
House Special Rules Committee, March 12, 2026
From 0:48:51 · Watch on the General Assembly's Vimeo channel
Summary by Georgia Commons: The sponsor said HR 1393 would create a House study committee to develop a rescue plan for rural hospitals. The sponsor estimated Georgia had 20 to 30 rural hospitals, depending on the definition, with roughly nine or ten close to closing. Proposed study topics included joint purchasing, stronger reimbursement negotiations, uninsured patients, telemedicine partnerships and tuition assistance tied to rural medical service. One member identified uncompensated care as a major financial burden and asked whether the study would examine closing insurance coverage gaps. The sponsor agreed. Asked about local access, the sponsor described a Burke County hospital's partnership with an Augusta hospital to provide orthopedic services, saying it helped keep the facility operating. A second member supported the study but questioned whether its December 1, 2026, deadline allowed enough time. The sponsor expressed hope that the study would run long enough to find solutions, but no amendment was offered. The committee approved the resolution by voice vote.
House Rules Committee, March 20, 2026
From 0:36:42 · Watch on the General Assembly's Vimeo channel
Summary by Georgia Commons: The sponsor said HR 1393 would create a study committee on rural hospitals. The sponsor described hospital closures, financial and reimbursement problems, difficulty attracting physicians, and areas without nearby hospital care. The proposed study would examine hospital finances and programs that pay physicians' tuition in exchange for rural service, with the goal of keeping hospitals open and retaining doctors. There were no questions or recorded vote.
Status timeline
- House Committee Favorably Reported (House)
- House Second Readers (House)
- House First Readers (House)
- House Hopper (House)
Sponsors
- L.C. Myles (D, HD-126)
- Carolyn Hugley (D, HD-141)
- Al Williams (D, HD-168)
- Debbie Buckner (D, HD-137)
- Gerald Greene (R, HD-154)
- Robert Dawson (D, HD-65)
Topics
- rural hospitals
- healthcare access
- legislative study committee
- rural healthcare funding