SB 131: Georgia Board of Health Care Workforce; Georgia Health Care Professionals Data System; establishment

Georgia already has a Behavioral Health Coordinating Council made up of state commissioners, agency heads, and appointed experts who advise on mental health and addiction services. This bill adds the Insurance Commissioner as a voting member of that council and lets the commissioner send a delegate to meetings, just like other members already can. The bill also creates a new parity compliance review panel inside the council. The panel would review whether health insurers and state health care agencies are meeting Georgia's mental health parity laws, which require insurers to cover mental health and substance abuse treatment the same way they cover other medical care. Health care providers would have to report parity concerns to the panel using forms the panel develops, though the panel could not fine providers for failing to report. The panel would evaluate concerns and recommend punitive action to the Insurance Commissioner or the Department of Community Health, and would produce consumer education materials on mental health parity rights.

• Adds the Insurance Commissioner as a voting member of the Behavioral Health Coordinating Council and allows the commissioner to send a delegate to meetings (O.C.G.A. § 37-2-4).
• Creates a new parity compliance review panel within the council to monitor compliance with Georgia's mental health parity laws (new O.C.G.A. § 37-2-12).
• Requires health care providers licensed under Title 43 or hospitals and facilities regulated under Title 31 to report parity concerns to the panel using forms and schedules the panel adopts.
• Bars the panel from imposing financial penalties on health care providers who fail to report a parity concern.
• Directs the panel to evaluate reported concerns and recommend punitive action to the Insurance Commissioner for insurer violations or to the commissioner of community health for state agency violations.
• Authorizes the panel to request more information from insurers, create consumer education materials, and build a support team for research and report writing, subject to available funding.

The bill affects the Insurance Commissioner and other state commissioners on the Behavioral Health Coordinating Council, mental health clinicians and hospital executives appointed to the new panel, health insurers, state health care agencies like the Department of Community Health, and health care providers such as hospitals, psychiatric facilities, and licensed professionals who must report parity concerns.

Georgians who rely on insurance coverage for mental health or substance abuse treatment could see closer state scrutiny of whether insurers and state agencies apply the same coverage standards used for physical health care, since providers would now have a formal channel to flag suspected violations for review and potential penalties.

• Section 1 adds the Insurance Commissioner to the Behavioral Health Coordinating Council's membership and delegate provisions in O.C.G.A. § 37-2-4, and makes the council an advisory body to the new parity panel.
• Section 2 creates O.C.G.A. § 37-2-12, defining 'health care provider,' 'health insurer,' 'parity concerns,' and 'state health care entity' by reference to existing insurance and Medicaid code sections.
• Section 2 sets the panel's membership: four council members (or designees) plus two mental health clinicians and two facility executives appointed by the Governor, and one mental health advocate each appointed by the Senate President and House Speaker.
• Section 2 requires the panel to build a simple reporting process for providers, evaluate parity concerns, and recommend punitive action to the Insurance Commissioner or the commissioner of community health depending on who is responsible.
• Section 2 authorizes the panel to request added information from insurers and state agencies, create consumer education materials in multiple languages and formats, and coordinate with the Governor's office and the Department of Community Health on enforcement criteria.
• Section 3 repeals any conflicting laws.

1. 2026-03-31Senate Agreed House Amend or Sub As Amended (Senate)
2. 2025-04-02House Passed/Adopted By Substitute (House)
3. 2025-04-02House Third Readers (House)
4. 2025-03-18House Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute (House)
5. 2025-03-03House Second Readers (House)
6. 2025-02-28House First Readers (House)
7. 2025-02-27Senate Passed/Adopted By Substitute (Senate)
8. 2025-02-27Senate Third Read (Senate)

• Mike Hodges (R, SD-003)Primary sponsor
• Ben Watson (R, SD-001)
• Shawn Still (R, SD-048)
• Clint Dixon (R, SD-045)
• Russ Goodman (R, SD-008)
• Billy Hickman (R, SD-004)
• Kay Kirkpatrick (R, SD-032)
• Rick Townsend (R, HD-179)

1. PassedSenate voteFebruary 27, 2025

   49 yea, 1 nay (1 not voting, 5 absent)

   Passage By Substitute: Senate Vote #102

2. PassedHouse voteApril 2, 2025

   166 yea, 3 nay (2 not voting, 9 absent)

   Passage: House Vote #381

3. PassedSenate voteMarch 31, 2026

   39 yea, 11 nay (1 not voting, 3 absent)

   Agree To House Substitute As Amended: Senate Vote #922

• mental health parity
• health insurance regulation
• behavioral health
• Georgia insurance oversight