HB1088: HB1088 Chiropractors; replace term chiropractor with chiropractic physician

Georgia law currently uses the term "chiropractor" throughout Chapter 9 of Title 43, the state's chiropractic licensing chapter. This bill would replace that term with "chiropractic physician" in the chapter's core sections covering exceptions to licensing, scope of practice, and penalties, while still letting licensed practitioners use the titles "chiropractor," "chiropractic physician," or "doctor of chiropractic." It also updates an exception so any person licensed to practice chiropractic in another state or jurisdiction, not just chiropractors, can treat a visiting sports or performing arts team's members, coaches, and staff at the event venue. Beyond Title 43, the bill amends Georgia's professional corporation law (O.C.G.A. Title 14) to confirm chiropractic physicians and physicians can jointly own a professional corporation, and it swaps the terminology in about two dozen other Code sections covering topics like malpractice affidavits, insurance definitions, disability parking permits, and health care liability. The changes would take effect immediately once the Governor signs the bill or it becomes law without a signature.

• Replaces the term "chiropractor" with "chiropractic physician" throughout Chapter 9 of Title 43, Georgia's chiropractic licensing law, including definitions, scope of practice, and disciplinary sections.
• Expands an exception in O.C.G.A. 43-9-7.2 so any person licensed to practice chiropractic in another U.S. or foreign jurisdiction, not just someone called a chiropractor, can treat a visiting sports or performing arts team at the event venue.
• Keeps the felony penalty in O.C.G.A. 43-9-19 for unlicensed practice of chiropractic, with fines of $500 to $5,000 and one to five years in prison, while adding "chiropractic physician" to the protected list of titles.
• Confirms in O.C.G.A. 14-7-4 that chiropractic physicians and physicians may jointly organize and own a professional corporation, though chiropractors still cannot attach the title "physician" to their own names.
• Updates roughly 22 other Code sections, covering topics such as malpractice affidavits, insurance definitions, disability parking permits, and hospital liability, to swap "chiropractor" for "chiropractic physician."
• Sets the effective date as the moment the Governor signs the bill or it becomes law without the Governor's signature.

Licensed chiropractors and chiropractic students in Georgia, the Georgia Board of Chiropractic Examiners, out-of-state chiropractic practitioners visiting for sports or performing arts events, physicians who might co-own a professional corporation with chiropractors, coroners and medical examiners who subpoena chiropractic records, and insurers whose policies reference chiropractic care.

The bill mainly changes terminology rather than what chiropractors can actually do, but it also widens who can treat visiting sports and performing arts teams and clarifies that chiropractors and physicians can jointly own a professional corporation, which could affect how chiropractic practices are structured and staffed.

• Section 1-1 rewrites O.C.G.A. 43-9-7.2 so the visiting sports or performing arts event exception covers any licensed chiropractic practitioner from another jurisdiction, not just those called chiropractors, limited to the event venue and team roster.
• Section 1-2 revises O.C.G.A. 43-9-16 to rename chiropractors as chiropractic physicians throughout the scope-of-practice rules, while keeping bans on prescribing medicine, performing surgery, or using invasive techniques like acupuncture without separate licensure.
• Section 1-2 also keeps subsection (h) allowing licensed practitioners to use the titles chiropractor, chiropractic physician, or doctor of chiropractic, or D.C.
• Section 1-3 keeps the felony penalty in O.C.G.A. 43-9-19 for unlicensed practice or fraudulent title use, with fines of $500 to $5,000 and prison terms of two to five years.
• Section 1-4 applies the chiropractor to chiropractic physician terminology swap to four more Code sections on board authority, definitions, and license discipline.
• Section 2-1 amends O.C.G.A. 14-7-4 to let chiropractic physicians and physicians jointly own a professional corporation, without allowing chiropractors to use the title physician.
• Section 2-3 lists 22 additional Code sections across insurance, health care liability, and disability parking law where the terminology swap applies.
• Section 3-1 sets the effective date as approval by the Governor or the bill becoming law without approval.

1. 2026-02-03House Second Readers (House)
2. 2026-02-02House First Readers (House)
3. 2026-01-29House Hopper (House)

• Karen Mathiak (R, HD-082)Primary sponsor
• Matt Reeves (R, HD-099)
• Anissa Jones (D, HD-143)
• Gerald Greene (R, HD-154)
• Stacey Evans (D, HD-057)

• chiropractors
• medical licensing
• health care terminology
• professional corporations
• sports medicine