---
title: HR 948. House Study Committee on Pharmacy Benefits Managers and Consumer Access to Prescription Medications; create
collection: bills
id: 2025-2026/hr948
cite_as: HR 948, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hr948
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hr948.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hr948/text
source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/72055
date: 2026-03-09
status: passed
corpus_version: bills-2026-09-13
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.
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omitted: votes and history
omitted_chars: 444
omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hr948.md?full=1
bill_number: HR 948
session: 2025-2026 Regular Session
session_slug: 2025-2026
chamber: House
bill_type: resolution
status_date: 2026-03-09
last_action: House Passed/Adopted By Substitute
sponsors:
  - Ron Stephens
  - Trey Kelley
  - Lee Hawkins
  - Debbie Buckner
  - Mark Newton
text_version: Comm Sub
has_text: true
legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/HR948/2025
upstream_id: 2019470
summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5
topic_tags:
  - pharmacy benefits managers
  - prescription drug prices
  - pharmacy access
  - health policy
  - legislative study committees
---

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

## Text

The House Committee on Health offers the following substitute to HR 948:
A RESOLUTION
Creating the House Study Committee on Pharmacy Benefits Managers and Consumer Access
to Prescription Medications; and for other purposes.
WHEREAS, according to the United States Office of Health Policy, the cost of prescription
drugs has increased at rates exceeding the rate of inflation each year since 2016; and
WHEREAS, pharmacy benefits managers administer prescription drug insurance benefits,
negotiate with drug manufacturers and pharmacies, and establish drug formularies and
pharmacy networks; and
WHEREAS, pharmacy benefits managers undertake practices that have been criticized and
investigated by industry stakeholders, including health policy experts, state attorneys general,
and the Federal Trade Commission; and
WHEREAS, such policies include leveraging vertical integration to steer patients to
pharmacy benefits manager affiliate pharmacies, marking up the cost of medications at
pharmacy benefits manager owned pharmacies, manipulating pharmacy reimbursement rates,
and engaging in other unfair practices that harm patients, retail pharmacies, payers, and
employers; and
WHEREAS, in 2019, Georgia passed the first pharmacy benefits manager steering laws in
the nation but many believe that pharmacy benefits managers continue to steer patients to
pharmacy benefits manager affiliate pharmacies within this state; and
WHEREAS, Georgia law requires that pharmacy benefits managers publicly report drug
prices that are greater than 10 percent over the national average drug acquisition costs and
such reports have revealed markups for some medications for commercial and government
payers and markups of thousands of percent above the national average drug acquisition
costs for medications used to treat multiple sclerosis, cancer, and kidney disease, among
other medications; and
WHEREAS, a recent study by the Georgia Center for Rural Prosperity and Innovation at
Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College indicates that pharmacy benefits manager practices
pose risks to patients and independent pharmacies, including increasing the number of
counties in Georgia without a single pharmacy.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES:
(1) Creation of House study committee. There is created the House Study Committee
on Pharmacy Benefits Managers and Consumer Access to Prescription Medications.
(2) Members and officers. The committee shall be composed of the following
members:
(A) The chairperson of the House Committee on Appropriations;
(B) The chairperson of the House Committee on Health;
(C) Three other members of the House of Representatives or experts on pharmacy
benefits managers or consumer access to prescription medication to be appointed by the
Speaker of the House of Representatives; and
(D) The Speaker of the House of Representatives shall designate a member of the
committee as chairperson of the committee.
(3) Powers and duties. The committee shall undertake a study of the conditions, needs,
issues, and problems mentioned above or related thereto and recommend any action or
legislation which the committee deems necessary or appropriate.
(4) Meetings. The chairperson shall call all meetings of the committee. The committee
may conduct such meetings at such places and at such times as it may deem necessary or
convenient to enable it to exercise fully and effectively its powers, perform its duties, and
accomplish the objectives and purposes of this resolution.
(5) Allowances, expenses, and funding.
(A) The legislative members of the committee shall receive the allowances provided
for in Code Section 28-1-8 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated.
(B) Members of the committee who are state officials, other than legislative members,
or state employees shall receive no compensation for their services on the committee,
but they may be reimbursed for expenses incurred by them in the performance of their
duties as members of the committee in the same manner as they are reimbursed for
expenses in their capacities as state officials or employees.
(C) Members of the committee who are not legislators, state officials, or state
employees shall receive a daily expense allowance in an amount the same as that
specified in subsection (b) of Code Section 45-7-21 of the Official Code of Georgia
Annotated, as well as the mileage or transportation allowance authorized for state
employees.
(D) The allowances authorized by this resolution shall not be received by any member
of the committee for more than five days unless additional days are authorized. Funds
necessary to carry out the provisions of this resolution shall come from funds
appropriated to the House of Representatives; except that funds for the reimbursement
of the expenses of state officials, other than legislative members, and for the
reimbursement of the expenses of state employees shall come from funds appropriated
to or otherwise available to their respective agencies.
(6) Report.
(A) In the event the committee adopts any specific findings or recommendations that
include suggestions for proposed legislation, the chairperson shall file a report of the
same prior to the date of abolishment specified in this resolution, subject to
subparagraph (C) of this paragraph.
(B) In the event the committee adopts a report that does not include suggestions for
proposed legislation, the chairperson shall file the report, subject to subparagraph (C)
of this paragraph.
(C) No report shall be filed unless the same has been approved prior to the date of
abolishment specified in this resolution by majority vote of a quorum of the committee.
A report so approved shall be signed by the chairperson of the committee and filed with
the Clerk of the House of Representatives.
(D) In the absence of an approved report, the chairperson may file with the Clerk of the
House of Representatives a copy of the minutes of the meetings of the committee in lieu
thereof.
(7) Abolishment. The committee shall stand abolished on December 1, 2026.

## Summaries written by Georgia Commons

The following was written by claude-sonnet-5 from the text above and is not part of the resolution. Quote the text, not the summary.

A Georgia House resolution creates a study committee to examine pharmacy benefits managers and their effect on Georgians' access to prescription drugs, with a report due by December 2026.

### Plain-language summary

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.

### What it does

- 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.

### Who it affects

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.

### Why it matters

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.

### Key provisions

- 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.

## Status

- Status: Passed (2026-03-09)
- Last action: House Passed/Adopted By Substitute (2026-03-09)
- Sponsors: Ron Stephens, Trey Kelley, Lee Hawkins, Debbie Buckner, Mark Newton
- Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/72055

> The history, votes, and amendments (444 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hr948.md?full=1