---
title: SB 80. Tax Credits; the definition of "rural hospital organization"; revise
collection: bills
id: 2025-2026/sb80
cite_as: SB 80, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb80
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb80.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb80/text
source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/69810
date: 2025-02-04
status: introduced
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: 95
omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb80.md?full=1
bill_number: SB 80
session: 2025-2026 Regular Session
session_slug: 2025-2026
chamber: Senate
bill_type: bill
status_date: 2025-02-03
last_action: Senate Read and Referred
sponsors:
- Carden Summers
- John Kennedy
- Jason Anavitarte
- Ed Harbison
- Larry Walker
- Marty Harbin
- David Lucas
- Ricky Williams
- Lee Anderson
- Freddie Sims
- Derek Mallow
- Sam Watson
- Billy Hickman
- Kenya Wicks
- Nikki Merritt
text_version: Introduced
has_text: true
legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/SB80/2025
upstream_id: 1952904
summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5
topic_tags:
- rural hospitals
- tax credits
- health care funding
- emergency departments
- Medicaid and Medicare
---
# SB 80. Tax Credits; the definition of "rural hospital organization"; revise
## Text
Senate Bill 80
By: Senators Summers of the 13th, Kennedy of the 18th, Anavitarte of the 31st, Harbison of
the 15th, Walker III of the 20th and others
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
To amend Code Section 31-8-9.1 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to
eligibility to receive tax credits, so as to revise the definition of "rural hospital organization";
to provide for related matters; to provide for an effective date and applicability; to repeal
conflicting laws; and for other purposes.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
SECTION 1.
Code Section 31-8-9.1 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to eligibility to
receive tax credits, is amended by revising paragraph (3) of subsection (a) as follows:
"(3) 'Rural hospital organization' means an acute care hospital or rural freestanding
emergency department licensed by the department pursuant to Article 1 of Chapter 7 of
this title that:
(A) Has its primary campus Provides inpatient hospital services at a facility located in
a rural county or is a critical access hospital;
(B) Participates in both Medicaid and medicare Medicare and accepts both Medicaid
and medicare Medicare patients;
(C) Provides health care services to indigent patients;
(D) Has at least 10 percent of its annual net revenue categorized as indigent care,
charity care, or bad debt;
(E) Annually files IRS Form 990, Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax,
with the department, or for any hospital not required to file IRS Form 990, the
department will provide a form that collects the same information to be submitted to the
department on an annual basis;
(F) Is operated by a county or municipal authority pursuant to Article 4 of Chapter 7
of this title or is designated as a tax-exempt organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the
Internal Revenue Code;
(G) Is current with all audits and reports required by law; and
(H) Has a three-year average patient margin, as a percent of expense, less than one
standard deviation above the state-wide three-year average of organizations defined in
subparagraphs (A) through (G) of this paragraph, as calculated by the department. For
purposes of this subparagraph, the term 'patient margin' means gross patient revenues
less contractual adjustments, bad debt, indigent and charity care, other uncompensated
care, and total expenses."
SECTION 2.
All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.
## Summaries written by Georgia Commons
The following was written by claude-sonnet-5 from the text above and is not part of the bill. Quote the text, not the summary.
Senate Bill 80 would broaden which rural hospitals qualify for Georgia's rural hospital tax credit program by including freestanding emergency departments and by changing how a hospital's rural location is defined.
### Plain-language summary
Georgia law gives tax credits to donors who support qualifying rural hospital organizations, under a definition in O.C.G.A. § 31-8-9.1. Currently, that definition requires the hospital to be an acute care hospital that provides inpatient services at a facility located in a rural county or that is a critical access hospital.
Senate Bill 80 changes that definition in two main ways. First, it adds rural freestanding emergency departments to the list of facilities that can qualify as a rural hospital organization, alongside acute care hospitals. Second, it replaces the requirement that a facility 'provide inpatient hospital services' in a rural county with a requirement that the organization simply have its primary campus located in a rural county or be a critical access hospital. The bill also fixes capitalization of the word Medicare in two places. All other existing eligibility requirements, such as accepting Medicaid and Medicare patients, serving indigent patients, and meeting financial reporting standards, remain unchanged.
### What it does
- Adds rural freestanding emergency departments to the types of facilities that can qualify as a 'rural hospital organization' eligible for tax credit donations, alongside acute care hospitals.
- Changes the location test from 'provides inpatient hospital services at a facility' in a rural county to having the organization's 'primary campus' located in a rural county or being a critical access hospital.
- Corrects the spelling of 'Medicare' from lowercase 'medicare' to properly capitalized 'Medicare' in the Medicaid and Medicare participation requirement.
- Leaves unchanged the other existing eligibility criteria, including indigent care levels, IRS Form 990 filing, tax-exempt status, audit compliance, and the patient margin cap.
### Who it affects
Rural hospitals and rural freestanding emergency departments in Georgia, donors who claim state tax credits for contributing to rural hospital organizations, and the Georgia Department of Community Health, which certifies eligibility and calculates statewide patient margin averages.
### Why it matters
By adding freestanding emergency departments and loosening the location requirement to 'primary campus' rather than where inpatient services are provided, the bill could let more rural facilities qualify for the tax credit program, potentially expanding the pool of organizations eligible to receive tax-credited donations that support rural health care.
### Key provisions
- Section 1 amends paragraph (3) of subsection (a) of O.C.G.A. § 31-8-9.1 to add 'rural freestanding emergency department' to the entities that can be a 'rural hospital organization'.
- Subparagraph (A) is revised so eligibility depends on the organization having its primary campus in a rural county or being a critical access hospital, rather than where it provides inpatient hospital services.
- Subparagraph (B) corrects capitalization of 'Medicare' but keeps the existing requirement to participate in and accept both Medicaid and Medicare patients.
- Subparagraphs (C) through (H), covering indigent care levels, IRS filings, tax-exempt status, audits, and patient margin limits, are unchanged by the bill.
- Section 2 repeals any conflicting laws.
## Status
- Status: Introduced (2025-02-03)
- Last action: Senate Read and Referred (2025-02-04)
- Sponsors: Carden Summers, John Kennedy, Jason Anavitarte, Ed Harbison, Larry Walker, Marty Harbin, David Lucas, Ricky Williams, Lee Anderson, Freddie Sims, Derek Mallow, Sam Watson, Billy Hickman, Kenya Wicks, Nikki Merritt
- Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/69810
> The history, votes, and amendments (95 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb80.md?full=1