HB1374: HB1374 Insurance; methods of payment to healthcare providers; provide certain requirements

This bill rewrites Georgia's law on how health insurers, their vendors, and care management organizations (Medicaid HMOs) pay healthcare providers electronically. Currently the law bars health plans from forcing providers to accept only credit card payments or other payment methods that come with fees. The bill goes further: before switching a provider to electronic funds transfer or virtual credit card payments, the insurer must tell the provider about any fees, explain fee-free alternatives, and get the provider's explicit written acceptance. Providers can charge reasonable fees for value-added services like data or portal access, and insurers cannot charge a bare transmission fee without the provider's consent. These rules cannot be waived by contract and apply to plans issued, amended, or renewed on or after January 1, 2027. A second, unrelated part of the bill changes state purchasing law. It clarifies that being on the state's prequalified supplier list cannot be used to bypass competitive bidding requirements, orders the commissioner of administrative services to adopt rules enforcing that and report to the General Assembly by November 1, 2026, and bars renewing or extending a contract beyond the competitive bidding dollar threshold if it was originally awarded without bidding because it fell under that threshold.

• Requires health insurers, vendors, or care management organizations to disclose fees, offer fee-free alternatives, and get a provider's express written acceptance before switching payment methods to electronic funds transfer or virtual credit cards.
• Prohibits charging a fee solely to transmit a payment to a healthcare provider unless the provider consents to that fee.
• Allows healthcare providers or their billing agents to charge reasonable fees for value-added services like data management or portal access.
• Makes clear that these payment protections cannot be waived by contract and voids any contract clause that tries to do so.
• Bars state contracts awarded without competitive bidding (because they were under the dollar threshold) from later being renewed or extended above that threshold.
• Directs the commissioner of administrative services to adopt rules ensuring supplier prequalification cannot be used to skip competitive bidding, and to report to the General Assembly by November 1, 2026.

Health insurers, health maintenance organizations, care management organizations (Medicaid HMOs), and their vendors that pay healthcare providers; doctors, dentists, hospitals, and other licensed healthcare providers and their billing agents; and the Department of Administrative Services along with companies that hold state supply and service contracts.

Providers would gain more control and clearer information before insurers switch them to electronic payment methods that can carry hidden fees, potentially reducing unexpected costs for medical practices. Separately, state agencies would face tighter limits on using prequalified supplier lists or below-threshold contracts to avoid competitive bidding.

• Amends O.C.G.A. § 33-24-59.24 to add definitions for 'express acceptance' and 'healthcare provider's agent' and to update existing definitions.
• Subsection (c) requires insurers to notify providers of fees, advise on fee-free alternatives, and obtain the provider's express written acceptance before initiating or changing to electronic or virtual credit card payments.
• Subsection (d) says a provider's chosen payment method stays in effect until the provider chooses a different one or makes a new election in a new contract.
• Subsection (e) bars fees solely for transmitting payments under federal electronic funds transfer standards (45 C.F.R. § 162.1602) unless the provider consents.
• Subsection (h) makes these protections non-waivable by contract and voids conflicting contract clauses; violations are enforced by the Insurance Commissioner.
• The new payment rules apply to health plans issued, amended, or renewed on or after January 1, 2027.
• Amends O.C.G.A. § 50-5-68 to bar contract awards from being conditioned on supplier prequalification and requires new rules and a report to the General Assembly by November 1, 2026.
• Adds new O.C.G.A. § 50-5-69.1 prohibiting renewal or extension of no-bid contracts beyond the competitive bidding threshold, except for emergency purchases.

1. 2026-05-05Effective Date 2026-07-01
2. 2026-05-05Act 406
3. 2026-05-05House Date Signed by Governor (House)
4. 2026-04-10House Sent to Governor (House)
5. 2026-03-31House Agreed Senate Amend or Sub (House)
6. 2026-03-20Senate Passed/Adopted By Substitute (Senate)
7. 2026-03-20Senate Third Read (Senate)
8. 2026-03-19Senate Read Second Time (Senate)

• Lee Hawkins (R, HD-027)Primary sponsor
• Ron Stephens (R, HD-164)
• Rick Jasperse (R, HD-011)
• Mark Newton (R, HD-127)
• David Clark (R, HD-100)
• Blake Tillery (R, SD-019)

1. PassedHouse voteMarch 4, 2026

   159 yea, 0 nay (2 not voting, 16 absent)

   Passage: House Vote #642

2. PassedSenate voteMarch 20, 2026

   46 yea, 0 nay (0 not voting, 8 absent)

   Passage By Substitute: Senate Vote #780

3. PassedHouse voteMarch 31, 2026

   165 yea, 0 nay (4 not voting, 7 absent)

   Agree To Senate Substitute: House Vote #814

• health insurance payments
• healthcare providers
• electronic funds transfer fees
• state contracting rules
• competitive bidding