Georgia CommonsSR 927: Senate Pharmacy Benefits Managers and Consumer Access to Prescription Medications Study Committee; create
Last action March 31, 2026 · Senate Passed/Adopted
A Georgia Senate resolution creates a study committee to examine how pharmacy benefits managers affect drug pricing and patients' access to pharmacies and prescription medications across the state.
The summaries below were written by an AI model (claude-sonnet-5) from the text of the resolution and are not part of it. Quote the text, not the summary. The stored text is the Enrolled version, the latest LegiScan holds.
In plain language
Pharmacy benefits managers (PBMs) are companies that administer prescription drug insurance benefits, negotiate with drug makers and pharmacies, and decide which drugs are covered and which pharmacies patients can use. This resolution creates the Senate Pharmacy Benefits Managers and Consumer Access to Prescription Medications Study Committee to look into PBM practices in Georgia, including concerns that PBMs steer patients to pharmacies they own, mark up drug prices, and squeeze independent pharmacies out of business, especially in rural counties. The committee will have five members: the chairs of the Senate Appropriations and Health and Human Services committees, plus three more senators or outside experts appointed by the President of the Senate. It can hold meetings, study the issues, and recommend legislation. Legislative members get standard travel and expense allowances, and any report must be filed before the committee is abolished on December 1, 2026.
What the bill does
- Creates the Senate Pharmacy Benefits Managers and Consumer Access to Prescription Medications Study Committee to investigate PBM practices in Georgia.
- Sets the committee's membership at five people: two Senate committee chairs and three additional senators or experts appointed by the President of the Senate.
- Authorizes the committee to study drug pricing, pharmacy access, and related problems and to recommend legislation.
- Provides standard legislative travel and expense allowances to committee members, capped at five days unless additional days are approved.
- Requires any approved findings or recommendations to be filed as a report with the Secretary of the Senate before the committee ends.
- Abolishes the committee automatically on December 1, 2026.
Who it affects
Georgia senators and the President of the Senate, who will appoint and serve on the committee; pharmacy benefits managers and the insurance and pharmacy industries whose practices will be studied; independent and rural pharmacies; and patients who rely on prescription drug coverage, especially in counties with few or no pharmacies.
Why it matters
The committee itself changes no law, but its recommendations could shape future legislation on drug pricing, pharmacy reimbursement, and patient access, particularly in rural Georgia counties where pharmacy closures have become more common.
Key provisions
- Paragraph (1) formally creates the Senate Pharmacy Benefits Managers and Consumer Access to Prescription Medications Study Committee.
- Paragraph (2) sets membership: the Senate Appropriations Committee chair, the Senate Health and Human Services Committee chair, three additional senators or experts appointed by the President of the Senate, and a chairperson chosen by the President.
- Paragraph (3) directs the committee to study PBM-related issues and recommend action or legislation it finds necessary.
- Paragraph (5) sets allowances for legislative members under O.C.G.A. § 28-1-8 and for non-legislator members under O.C.G.A. § 45-7-21, capped at five days absent further authorization.
- Paragraph (6) requires any approved report or recommended legislation to be filed with the Secretary of the Senate before the committee is abolished.
- Paragraph (7) abolishes the committee on December 1, 2026.
From the bill
“pharmacy benefits managers administer prescription drug insurance benefits, negotiate with drug manufacturers and pharmacies, and establish drug formularies and pharmacy networks”
“markups of thousands of percent above the national average drug acquisition costs for medications used to treat multiple sclerosis, cancer, and kidney disease”
Status timeline
- Senate Passed/Adopted (Senate)
- Senate Third Read (Senate)
- Senate Read Second Time (Senate)
- Senate Committee Favorably Reported (Senate)
- Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
- Senate Hopper (Senate)
Sponsors
- Bo Hatchett (R, SD-050)
- Blake Tillery (R, SD-019)
- Brian Strickland (R, SD-042)
- Randy Robertson (R, SD-029)
- Russ Goodman (R, SD-008)
- John Albers (R, SD-056)
- Sam Watson (R, SD-011)
- Ben Watson (R, SD-001)
- Timothy Bearden (R, SD-030)
- Billy Hickman (R, SD-004)
- Ricky Williams (R, SD-025)
- Freddie Sims (D, SD-012)
- Carden Summers (R, SD-013)
- Nikki Merritt (D, SD-009)
- Chuck Hufstetler (R, SD-052)
- Mike Hodges (R, SD-003)
- Larry Walker (R, SD-020)
- Sonya Halpern (D, SD-039)
- Sally Harrell (D, SD-040)
- RaShaun Kemp (D, SD-038)
- Max Burns (R, SD-023)
- Kenya Wicks (D, SD-034)
- Chuck Payne (R, SD-054)
- Drew Echols (R, SD-049)
- Steven McNeel (R, SD-018)
- Nan Orrock (D, SD-036)
- Marty Harbin (R, SD-016)
- Jason T. Dickerson (R, SD-021)
Votes
- Senate voteMarch 31, 2026
48 yea, 0 nay (3 not voting, 3 absent)
Topics
- prescription drug prices
- pharmacy benefits managers
- rural pharmacy access
- health care policy
- Georgia Senate study committee