SB500: SB500 Behavioral Health Care Workforce Data Base; expand to include data from licensed health care professionals

Georgia currently maintains a Behavioral Health Care Workforce Data Base under the Georgia Board of Health Care Workforce, which gathers survey data specifically from behavioral health providers, meaning those who mainly treat mental health or substance use disorders. This bill broadens that system by redefining who counts, replacing the narrower term 'behavioral health care provider' with 'health care professional,' and adding many more licensing boards to the list covered, including dentistry, chiropractic, optometry, occupational and physical therapy, speech-language pathology, podiatry, dietetics, and behavior analysis. The bill also removes the old definition tied to 'addictive disease' and marks it as reserved, and updates the data base's survey requirements so licensing boards collect demographic and other information, including insurance types accepted and Medicaid/Medicare participation, from this wider group of health care professionals. The changes take effect once the Act is adopted, and the data base itself is renamed the Health Care Workforce Data Base.

• Redefines 'behavioral health care provider' as 'health care professional,' broadening coverage beyond mental health and substance use treatment providers to a wider range of licensed health workers.
• Adds eight more licensing boards to the list covered by the data base, including boards overseeing dentists, chiropractors, optometrists, occupational and physical therapists, speech-language pathologists, podiatrists, dietitians, and behavior analysts.
• Removes the definition of 'addictive disease' tied to O.C.G.A. § 37-1-1 and marks that definition as reserved, no longer defined in this section.
• Directs licensing boards to use a minimum data set survey to collect demographic and other data from this expanded group of health care professionals rather than only behavioral health providers.
• Updates the data collected to include whether a 'health care professional' (rather than just a 'provider') accepts Medicaid and Medicare and what types of insurance they accept.

Licensed health care professionals across many fields in Georgia, including counselors, social workers, nurses, physicians, pharmacists, dentists, chiropractors, optometrists, occupational and physical therapists, speech-language pathologists, podiatrists, dietitians, and behavior analysts, along with the licensing boards that regulate them and the Georgia Board of Health Care Workforce.

By expanding the data base beyond behavioral health providers, the state would gain broader workforce information covering many more types of licensed health professionals, which could shape future decisions about health care access, staffing shortages, and insurance participation across a wider range of medical and allied health fields in Georgia.

• Section 1 revises O.C.G.A. § 49-10-5(a) by replacing the term 'behavioral health care provider' with 'health care professional' and broadening the definition to any professional regulated by a licensing board who primarily treats mental health or substance use disorders.
• Section 1 removes the definition of 'addictive disease' that referenced O.C.G.A. § 37-1-1, marking it as reserved rather than defined.
• Section 1 adds eight new licensing boards to subsection (a)(3), covering dentistry, chiropractic, optometry, occupational therapy, physical therapy, speech-language pathology and audiology, podiatry, dietetics, and behavior analysis.
• Section 1 revises subsection (b) to direct the board to maintain the data base and have licensing boards use a minimum data set survey to collect data from the newly expanded group of health care professionals.
• Section 1 revises paragraph (9) of subsection (d) so the data collected on insurance types accepted and Medicaid/Medicare participation applies to 'health care professional' rather than just 'provider.'
• Section 2 repeals all laws and parts of laws in conflict with the Act.

1. 2026-05-12Effective Date 2026-07-01
2. 2026-05-12Act 629
3. 2026-05-12Senate Date Signed by Governor (Senate)
4. 2026-04-10Senate Sent to Governor (Senate)
5. 2026-03-27Senate Agreed House Amend or Sub (Senate)
6. 2026-03-23House Passed/Adopted By Substitute (House)
7. 2026-03-23House Third Readers (House)
8. 2026-03-18House Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute (House)

• Mike Hodges (R, SD-003)Primary sponsor
• Ben Watson (R, SD-001)
• Kay Kirkpatrick (R, SD-032)
• Larry Walker (R, SD-020)
• Sally Harrell (D, SD-040)
• Billy Hickman (R, SD-004)
• Carden Summers (R, SD-013)
• Chuck Hufstetler (R, SD-052)
• Bo Hatchett (R, SD-050)
• Ricky Williams (R, SD-025)
• Rick Townsend (R, HD-179)

1. PassedSenate voteFebruary 26, 2026

   46 yea, 3 nay (2 not voting, 4 absent)

   Passage: Senate Vote #595

2. PassedHouse voteMarch 23, 2026

   164 yea, 1 nay (3 not voting, 8 absent)

   Passage: House Vote #749

3. PassedSenate voteMarch 27, 2026

   45 yea, 2 nay (2 not voting, 5 absent)

   Agree To House Substitute: Senate Vote #839

• health care workforce
• behavioral health
• licensing boards
• health data collection
• Medicaid and Medicare