Georgia CommonsSenate · Introduced · 2025-2026 Regular Session
SB 528: Insurance; health benefit plans, policies, or contracts executed by the state to cover medically necessary orthotic devices and prosthetic devices and their materials and components; require
Last action February 19, 2026 · Senate Read and Referred
A Georgia Senate bill would require the State Health Benefit Plan, covering state employees, public school teachers, and University System of Georgia employees, to cover medically necessary orthotic and prosthetic devices starting in 2027.
The summaries below were written by an AI model (claude-sonnet-5) from the text of the bill 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
Georgia law already requires many health insurance policies to cover medically necessary orthotic devices (braces and other supports) and prosthetic devices (artificial limbs) and their parts, under O.C.G.A. § 33-24-59.35. But that law currently excludes health plans the state provides to its own employees, meaning state workers were not guaranteed this coverage the way people on other insurance plans were. This bill rewrites the definition of 'health benefit policy' so that, starting January 1, 2027, it includes plans the state provides to state employees, public school teachers and employees, and members and employees of the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia, along with their retirees and dependents. That change means these state-run plans would now have to comply with the orthotic and prosthetic coverage mandate. Self-funded employer health plans governed by the federal ERISA law remain excluded. The law would take effect as soon as the Governor signs it.
What the bill does
- Removes the exclusion that kept state employee health plans from having to cover orthotic and prosthetic devices under Georgia's coverage mandate (O.C.G.A. § 33-24-59.35).
- Extends the coverage requirement to plans covering public school teachers and employees and to members and employees of the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia.
- Extends the requirement to retirees and dependents of these state-connected employees, not just active employees.
- Sets January 1, 2027 as the date the new coverage requirement for these state plans takes effect.
- Keeps the existing exclusion for self-funded, employer-sponsored plans governed by the federal ERISA law.
Who it affects
State employees, public school teachers and staff, and Board of Regents employees enrolled in state-provided health plans, along with their retirees and dependents. It also affects the State Health Benefit Plan administrators and insurers who must now cover orthotic and prosthetic devices for this population.
Why it matters
State employees, teachers, and university system workers who need artificial limbs, braces, or similar devices would gain a guaranteed insurance benefit that other Georgians with private major medical plans already have, potentially reducing out-of-pocket costs for these medically necessary devices starting in 2027.
Key provisions
- Section 1 revises paragraph (3) of subsection (a) of O.C.G.A. § 33-24-59.35, changing the definition of 'health benefit policy' used throughout the orthotic and prosthetic coverage law.
- The revised definition removes language that excluded plans executed by the state on behalf of state employees under Article 1 of Chapter 18 of Title 45.
- The revised definition adds coverage for public school teachers and employees and Board of Regents members and employees, plus their retirees and dependents, effective January 1, 2027.
- The bill removes language that had exempted Medicaid contracts between insurers and the Department of Community Health from the coverage requirement.
- Self-funded, employer-sponsored plans subject to the federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 remain excluded from the definition.
- Section 2 makes the Act effective immediately upon the Governor's signature or upon becoming law without signature.
From the bill
“'Health benefit policy' means any individual or group plan, policy, or contract for healthcare services issued, delivered, issued for delivery, or renewed in this state by an insurer that provides major medical benefits.”
“Such term shall not include self-funded, employer sponsored health insurance plans subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974”
Discussed in meetings (2)
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.
Senate Insurance and Labor Committee, February 24, 2026
From 0:44:17 · Watch on the General Assembly's Vimeo channel
Summary by Georgia Commons: The sponsor said the bill would extend orthotic and prosthetic coverage requirements previously adopted for commercial insurance to state-sponsored health coverage beginning January 1, 2027. The sponsor said state employees, public school employees, University System employees, retirees and dependents should have the same opportunities for everyday activities and exercise. Asked about technical college employees, the sponsor said they would be included as state employees. Another member suggested adding coverage for knee injections, saying the state plan covered knee replacement but not those injections. The sponsor offered to investigate; no amendment was adopted. A witness for So Everybody Can Move, who also co-owns Alliance Prosthetics and Orthotics, described a teacher whose state coverage did not provide a running prosthesis after an amputation. The witness said charitable assistance supplied that device, but the teacher still lacked a device suitable for showering. The witness said work with the Department of Community Health had reduced the estimated cost from $55 million to $1.4 million. The committee held a hearing only, and the chair said a vote would be available Thursday.
Status timeline
- Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
- Senate Hopper (Senate)
Sponsors
- Randy Robertson (R, SD-29)
- Clint Dixon (R, SD-45)
- Matt Brass (R, SD-6)
- Brian Strickland (R, SD-42)
- Billy Hickman (R, SD-4)
- Mike Hodges (R, SD-3)
- Max Burns (R, SD-23)
- Jason T. Dickerson (R, SD-21)
- Lee Anderson (R, SD-24)
- Shawn Still (R, SD-48)
- Chuck Payne (R, SD-54)
Topics
- health insurance
- state employee benefits
- prosthetic and orthotic coverage
- teacher benefits
- insurance mandates