HR 397: House Study Committee on Healthcare Quality and Reporting; create

This resolution does not change any healthcare law itself. Instead it creates the House Study Committee on Healthcare Quality and Reporting, a temporary panel of five House members and four non-legislative appointees, including representatives from the Department of Community Health, a statewide healthcare data initiative, a healthcare data analyst, and a Medicaid care management organization. The committee is tasked with studying how a standardized system for collecting and reporting clinical and claims data could improve patient outcomes, cut costs, and increase transparency in Georgia healthcare, while making sure any such system follows federal privacy law (HIPAA) and does not overburden providers. The Speaker of the House appoints all members and names the chairperson. The committee can meet as needed, members get standard state travel and expense allowances, and it must file any findings or recommended legislation before it is automatically abolished on December 1, 2025.

• Creates a nine-member House Study Committee on Healthcare Quality and Reporting to study healthcare data reporting issues in Georgia.
• Directs the Speaker of the House to appoint five legislative members plus four non-legislative members, including one from the Department of Community Health and one from a Medicaid care management organization.
• Authorizes the committee to study clinical and claims data reporting, compliance costs, and enforcement penalties, and to recommend legislation.
• Sets standard state travel and per diem allowances for committee members, capped at five days unless more are authorized.
• Requires any adopted findings or recommended legislation to be filed as a report before the committee is abolished.
• Automatically abolishes the committee on December 1, 2025.

Members of the Georgia House of Representatives who may be appointed to the committee, the Department of Community Health, statewide healthcare data initiatives, healthcare data analysts, Medicaid care management organizations, healthcare providers, insurers, and Medicaid recipients whose data and care could be affected by future reporting rules.

The resolution itself changes nothing about healthcare rules, but its findings could shape future legislation on how patient data is collected, shared, and reported in Georgia, potentially affecting costs and paperwork for providers, insurers, and Medicaid plans.

• Paragraph (1) creates the House Study Committee on Healthcare Quality and Reporting.
• Paragraph (2) sets committee membership at nine: five legislators appointed by the Speaker plus four non-legislative members from specific healthcare backgrounds, with the Speaker naming the chairperson.
• Paragraph (3) charges the committee with studying healthcare data reporting issues and recommending action or legislation.
• Paragraph (5) sets member allowances under O.C.G.A. Section 28-1-8 for legislators and O.C.G.A. Section 45-7-21 for non-official members, funded through House appropriations.
• Paragraph (6) requires any approved findings or legislative recommendations to be filed as a report with the Clerk of the House before abolishment.
• Paragraph (7) abolishes the committee on December 1, 2025.

1. 2025-02-28House Second Readers (House)
2. 2025-02-27House First Readers (House)
3. 2025-02-26House Hopper (House)

• Sharon Cooper (R, HD-45)Primary sponsor
• Deborah Silcox (R, HD-53)
• Mark Newton (R, HD-127)
• Michelle Au (D, HD-50)
• Lee Hawkins (R, HD-27)

• healthcare data reporting
• Medicaid
• healthcare quality
• study committee
• health insurance regulation