HR 948: House Study Committee on Pharmacy Benefits Managers and Consumer Access to Prescription Medications; create

This resolution sets up the House Study Committee on Pharmacy Benefits Managers and Consumer Access to Prescription Medications. Pharmacy benefits managers, or PBMs, are companies that administer prescription drug insurance benefits, negotiate with drug makers and pharmacies, and decide which drugs are covered and which pharmacies patients can use. The resolution cites concerns that PBMs steer patients toward pharmacies they own, mark up drug prices far above national averages for some medications, and may be contributing to counties in Georgia having no local pharmacy at all. The committee will include House leaders and appointed members or experts, and it is directed to study these issues and recommend legislation if it chooses. Members get standard state travel and meeting allowances, and the committee must file any report before it is abolished on December 1, 2026.

• Creates the House Study Committee on Pharmacy Benefits Managers and Consumer Access to Prescription Medications to examine PBM practices in Georgia.
• Sets committee membership as the chairs of the House Appropriations and Health Committees plus three more members or experts appointed by the Speaker.
• Directs the committee to study PBM-related problems and recommend legislation or other action it deems necessary.
• Authorizes standard legislative allowances and expense reimbursement for members under existing Georgia code sections, capped at five days unless extended.
• Requires any approved findings or legislative recommendations to be filed as a report with the Clerk of the House before the committee ends.
• Abolishes the committee automatically on December 1, 2026.

Pharmacy benefits managers operating in Georgia, independent and affiliate pharmacies, patients who rely on prescription drug coverage, insurers and employers who contract with PBMs, and members of the Georgia House of Representatives who will serve on or oversee the new study committee.

The committee itself changes no law, but its findings could shape future legislation on drug pricing, pharmacy access, and PBM regulation in Georgia, an issue tied to rising drug costs and counties losing local pharmacies.

• Paragraph (1) formally creates the study committee.
• Paragraph (2) sets membership: two committee chairs plus three Speaker-appointed members or experts, with a Speaker-designated chairperson.
• Paragraph (3) charges the committee with studying PBM issues and recommending legislation.
• Paragraph (5) details allowances, capping standard reimbursement at five days unless extended, funded through House appropriations or members' own agencies.
• Paragraph (6) requires any adopted report or recommendations to be filed with the Clerk of the House before abolishment, or minutes filed if no report is approved.
• Paragraph (7) sets the committee's abolishment date as December 1, 2026.

1. 2026-03-09House Passed/Adopted By Substitute (House)
2. 2026-03-09House Third Readers (House)
3. 2026-02-19House Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute (House)
4. 2026-01-12House Second Readers (House)
5. 2025-04-04House First Readers (House)
6. 2025-04-02House Hopper (House)

• Ron Stephens (R, HD-164)Primary sponsor
• Trey Kelley (R, HD-016)
• Lee Hawkins (R, HD-027)
• Debbie Buckner (D, HD-137)
• Mark Newton (R, HD-127)

1. PassedHouse voteMarch 9, 2026

   157 yea, 0 nay (3 not voting, 17 absent)

   Adopt: House Vote #691

• pharmacy benefits managers
• prescription drug prices
• pharmacy access
• health policy
• legislative study committees