---
title: SR 344. Senate Study Committee on a Single-payer Healthcare Program; create
collection: bills
id: 2025-2026/sr344
cite_as: SR 344, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sr344
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sr344.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sr344/text
source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/71128
date: 2025-03-06
status: introduced
corpus_version: bills-2026-09-12
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.
up: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026.md
previous: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sr343.md
next: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sr345.md
index: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/index.md
omitted: votes and history
omitted_chars: 95
omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sr344.md?full=1
bill_number: SR 344
session: 2025-2026 Regular Session
session_slug: 2025-2026
chamber: Senate
bill_type: resolution
status_date: 2025-03-04
last_action: Senate Read and Referred
sponsors:
  - Nan Orrock
  - Harold Jones
  - Kim Jackson
  - Elena Parent
  - Nabilah Islam Parkes
text_version: Introduced
has_text: true
legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/SR344/2025
upstream_id: 1991536
summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5
topic_tags:
  - single-payer healthcare
  - Medicaid expansion
  - health insurance
  - legislative study committee
  - healthcare policy
---

# SR 344. Senate Study Committee on a Single-payer Healthcare Program; create

## Text

Senate Resolution 344
By: Senators Orrock of the 36th, Jones II of the 22nd, Jackson of the 41st, Parent of the 44th
and Islam Parkes of the 7th
A RESOLUTION
Creating the Senate Study Committee on a Single-payer Healthcare Program; and for other
purposes.
WHEREAS, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) was enacted by Congress
in 2010, fundamentally reforming the American healthcare system, by expanding Medicaid
to 138 percent of the federal poverty line and making various changes to the health insurance
industry; and
WHEREAS, the State of Georgia has refused to implement Medicaid expansion as
contemplated by the ACA, leaving nearly 300,000 Georgians uninsured; and
WHEREAS, most other highly developed countries, including Australia, Canada, India,
Israel, Italy, New Zealand, Spain, Taiwan, and the United Kingdom, have single-payer
healthcare systems of some kind; and
WHEREAS, opinion polls have shown that countries with single-payer healthcare systems
almost universally prefer their systems over an American-style private healthcare system;
and
WHEREAS, various proposals have been introduced in Congress to create a nation-wide
single-payer healthcare system, and many states, including California, Colorado, Hawaii, and
Vermont, have explored the creation of a single-payer healthcare system at the state level;
and
WHEREAS, studies have shown that the United States would save approximately half a
trillion dollars every year under a single-payer system, and that as many as 212,000 lives
could have been saved during the COVID-19 pandemic; and
WHEREAS, the implementation of a single-payer healthcare system in Georgia would
significantly improve healthcare outcomes in this state; and
WHEREAS, a study committee is needed to establish informed recommendations for the
implementation of a single-payer healthcare system.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE:
(1) Creation of Senate study committee. There is created the Senate Study Committee
on a Single-payer Healthcare Program.
(2) Members and officers.
(A) The committee shall be composed of the following members:
(i) Five members of the Senate to be appointed by the President of the Senate;
(ii) The commissioner of public health or his or her designee;
(iii) The commissioner of community health or his or her designee; and
(iv) The commissioner of behavioral health and developmental disabilities or his or
her designee.
(B) The President of the Senate shall designate a legislative member of the committee
to be the 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 and funding. 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. Members of the committee who are state officials, other than legislative
members, or who are 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. 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 Senate; 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 Secretary of the Senate.
(D) In the absence of an approved report, the chairperson may file with the Secretary
of the Senate a copy of the minutes of the meetings of the committee in lieu thereof.
(7) Abolishment. The committee shall stand abolished on December 1, 2025.

## 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 Senate resolution would create a study committee to examine creating a single-payer healthcare program in the state, with lawmakers and health officials reviewing the idea and reporting back by December 2025.

### Plain-language summary

Georgia has not expanded Medicaid under the federal Affordable Care Act, and this resolution notes that leaves nearly 300,000 Georgians uninsured. Rather than changing any law directly, the resolution sets up a study group, the Senate Study Committee on a Single-payer Healthcare Program, to look into whether Georgia should adopt a single-payer healthcare system, in which one entity (typically government) pays for most or all healthcare costs instead of private insurers.
The committee would include five senators appointed by the President of the Senate plus the commissioners of public health, community health, and behavioral health and developmental disabilities (or their designees). It can meet as needed, and legislative members get standard travel allowances under O.C.G.A. § 28-1-8. The committee must file a report of any findings or proposed legislation before it is abolished on December 1, 2025.

### What it does

- Creates the Senate Study Committee on a Single-payer Healthcare Program to study the idea rather than enacting any healthcare program itself.
- Sets the committee's membership at five senators plus three state health commissioners or their designees, with the Senate President choosing the chairperson.
- Directs the committee to study healthcare conditions and needs and recommend any legislation it thinks is necessary.
- Provides legislative members standard per diem and travel allowances under O.C.G.A. § 28-1-8, capped at five paid days unless extended.
- Requires the committee to file a report or, if none is approved, meeting minutes with the Secretary of the Senate before it disbands.
- Abolishes the committee automatically on December 1, 2025.

### Who it affects

The resolution affects the five senators and three state health commissioners (or designees) who would serve on the committee, and indirectly Georgians without health insurance, whose situation the committee would study as it considers single-payer healthcare proposals.

### Why it matters

No law changes immediately; the resolution only sets up a group to study single-payer healthcare and report findings. Any real change to how Georgians get or pay for healthcare would depend on legislation the committee might recommend after its study ends in December 2025.

### Key provisions

- Paragraph (1) creates the Senate Study Committee on a Single-payer Healthcare Program.
- Paragraph (2) sets membership: five senators appointed by the President of the Senate, plus the commissioners of public health, community health, and behavioral health and developmental disabilities or their designees.
- Paragraph (3) directs the committee to study healthcare issues and recommend any needed action or legislation.
- Paragraph (4) lets the chairperson call meetings at any time or place needed to carry out the study.
- Paragraph (5) sets pay and reimbursement rules, funded through Senate appropriations, and caps paid allowance days at five unless extended.
- Paragraph (6) requires a report (or minutes if no report is approved) to be filed with the Secretary of the Senate.
- Paragraph (7) abolishes the committee on December 1, 2025.

## Status

- Status: Introduced (2025-03-04)
- Last action: Senate Read and Referred (2025-03-06)
- Sponsors: Nan Orrock, Harold Jones, Kim Jackson, Elena Parent, Nabilah Islam Parkes
- Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/71128

> The history, votes, and amendments (95 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sr344.md?full=1