---
title: SB 91. State Employees' Health Insurance Plan; Board of Community Health from entering into, executing, or renewing a contract with any pharmacy benefits manager that owns or has an ownership interest in any retail pharmacy; prohibit
collection: bills
id: 2025-2026/sb91
cite_as: SB 91, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb91
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb91.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb91/text
source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/69888
date: 2026-03-18
status: engrossed
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: 757
omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb91.md?full=1
bill_number: SB 91
session: 2025-2026 Regular Session
session_slug: 2025-2026
chamber: Senate
bill_type: bill
status_date: 2025-03-04
last_action: House Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute
sponsors:
- Blake Tillery
- Ben Watson
- Bo Hatchett
- Kay Kirkpatrick
- Russ Goodman
- Ricky Williams
- Frank Ginn
- Shawn Still
- Steve Gooch
- John Albers
- Carden Summers
- Lee Anderson
- Chuck Hufstetler
- Chuck Payne
- Drew Echols
- Sam Watson
- Max Burns
- Marty Harbin
- Matt Brass
- Greg Dolezal
- Mike Hodges
- Donzella James
- Derek Mallow
- Brandon Beach
- Billy Hickman
- Mark Newton
text_version: Comm Sub
has_text: true
legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/SB91/2025
upstream_id: 1955616
summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5
topic_tags:
- state employee health insurance
- pharmacy benefits managers
- prescription drugs
- health insurance contracts
- Board of Community Health
---
# SB 91. State Employees' Health Insurance Plan; Board of Community Health from entering into, executing, or renewing a contract with any pharmacy benefits manager that owns or has an ownership interest in any retail pharmacy; prohibit
## Text
The House Committee on Health offers the following substitute to SB 91:
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
To amend Part 1 of Article 1 of Chapter 18 of Title 45 of the Official Code of Georgia
Annotated, relating to the state employees' health insurance plan, so as to prohibit the Board
of Community Health from entering into, executing, or renewing a contract or contracts with
any pharmacy benefits manager that owns or has an ownership interest in any retail
pharmacy or any legal entity that contracts with or uses such pharmacy benefits manager; to
provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
SECTION 1.
Part 1 of Article 1 of Chapter 18 of Title 45 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated,
relating to the state employees' health insurance plan, is amended by adding a new Code
section to read as follows:
"45-18-6.2.
(a) On or after July 1, 2026, the board shall not enter into, execute, or renew any contract
or contracts to provide benefits under the plan of health insurance benefits in accordance
with this part with:
(1) Any pharmacy benefits manager that owns or has an ownership interest in any retail
pharmacy; or
(2) Any legal entity that contracts with or uses any pharmacy benefits manager that owns
or has an ownership interest in any retail pharmacy.
(b) This Code section shall not be construed to impair any contracts in existence on
June 30, 2026."
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.
A Georgia Senate bill would bar the State Health Benefit Plan from contracting with pharmacy benefits managers that own retail pharmacies, starting July 1, 2026.
### Plain-language summary
Georgia's state employees' health insurance plan is run by the Board of Community Health, which contracts with pharmacy benefits managers (companies that handle prescription drug benefits) to administer drug coverage. This bill adds a new section to state law saying that starting July 1, 2026, the board cannot enter into, execute, or renew a contract with any pharmacy benefits manager that owns or has an ownership interest in a retail pharmacy, or with any entity that itself contracts with or uses such a pharmacy benefits manager.
The idea behind the restriction is to prevent pharmacy benefits managers from favoring their own affiliated pharmacies when managing the state plan's drug benefits. The bill specifically protects contracts already in place as of June 30, 2026, meaning existing agreements would not be broken by this new rule, only future or renewed contracts would be affected.
### What it does
- Adds a new Code section (O.C.G.A. ยง 45-18-6.2) barring the Board of Community Health from contracting with pharmacy benefits managers that own or hold an ownership stake in a retail pharmacy.
- Extends that same ban to any legal entity that contracts with or uses such a pharmacy benefits manager, closing an indirect workaround.
- Sets the restriction to begin on July 1, 2026, giving the state and vendors over a year to adjust.
- Protects contracts already in effect as of June 30, 2026 from being disrupted by the new rule.
### Who it affects
State employees and retirees covered by the State Health Benefit Plan, the Board of Community Health, and pharmacy benefits managers or affiliated companies that currently or in the future might seek state contracts while also owning retail pharmacies.
### Why it matters
If enacted, the state's health plan would have to choose pharmacy benefits managers without ties to retail pharmacy ownership, which could change who administers prescription drug benefits for hundreds of thousands of state workers and retirees starting in mid-2026.
### Key provisions
- Section 1 adds new Code section 45-18-6.2, prohibiting the board from entering, executing, or renewing contracts with pharmacy benefits managers that own or have an ownership interest in a retail pharmacy.
- The same section extends the ban to entities that contract with or use such pharmacy benefits managers, preventing indirect arrangements.
- Subsection (b) states the restriction does not apply to contracts already in existence as of June 30, 2026, so current agreements remain valid.
- The prohibition takes effect on July 1, 2026.
- Section 2 repeals any conflicting laws.
## Status
- Status: Engrossed (2025-03-04)
- Last action: House Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute (2026-03-18)
- Sponsors: Blake Tillery, Ben Watson, Bo Hatchett, Kay Kirkpatrick, Russ Goodman, Ricky Williams, Frank Ginn, Shawn Still, Steve Gooch, John Albers, Carden Summers, Lee Anderson, Chuck Hufstetler, Chuck Payne, Drew Echols, Sam Watson, Max Burns, Marty Harbin, Matt Brass, Greg Dolezal, Mike Hodges, Donzella James, Derek Mallow, Brandon Beach, Billy Hickman, Mark Newton
- Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/69888
> The history, votes, and amendments (757 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb91.md?full=1