HB1605: HB1605 Community Health, Dept. of; making claims for Medicaid estate recovery of funds from ABLE accounts maintained through any qualified ABLE account, except as required by applicable federal law; prohibit

Georgia's ABLE program (Achieving a Better Life Experience) lets people with disabilities save private money without losing eligibility for Medicaid and other benefits. Under current law, when an ABLE account holder dies, the Department of Community Health can file a claim against the leftover funds to recover money Medicaid spent on that person's care, a practice often called a 'clawback.' This bill amends Georgia's ABLE law (O.C.G.A. Chapter 9 of Title 30) to bar the Department of Community Health, and any other state agency, from making such Medicaid estate recovery claims against ABLE account funds, unless federal law requires it. It also clarifies that this protection applies broadly to any qualified ABLE account, not just Georgia's own program, and updates the related law barring creditors from reaching ABLE account funds to reference this new exception. The bill states legislative findings that clawbacks discourage people from opening ABLE accounts and undermine their purpose of providing long-term financial security for Georgians with disabilities.

• Prohibits the Department of Community Health and other state agencies from filing Medicaid estate recovery claims against funds in a deceased person's ABLE account, except when federal law requires it.
• Defines 'ABLE account' to include accounts held by Georgia residents through any qualified ABLE program, not only the state's own Georgia ABLE program.
• Keeps in place the existing process where the Department of Community Health can claim ABLE Trust Fund money for medical assistance costs incurred after the account was opened, but limits broader estate recovery claims.
• Updates the law protecting ABLE accounts from creditors (O.C.G.A. § 30-9-15) to note the new exception tied to Medicaid claims under Code Section 30-9-14.
• States legislative findings that Medicaid clawbacks on ABLE accounts discourage enrollment and undermine the accounts' purpose of financial security for people with disabilities.

Georgians with disabilities who hold ABLE savings accounts, their families and heirs who would otherwise see remaining funds seized after death, and the Department of Community Health, which administers Georgia's Medicaid program and currently can file estate recovery claims against those funds.

If enacted, families of ABLE account holders would generally keep leftover savings after a beneficiary's death instead of having them claimed to repay Medicaid, unless federal law says otherwise. This could affect whether people with disabilities feel safe opening or keeping ABLE accounts.

• Section 1 sets out legislative findings that ABLE accounts support long-term financial security and that Medicaid clawbacks discourage people from enrolling.
• Section 2 revises O.C.G.A. § 30-9-14 to broaden the definition of 'ABLE account' and to prohibit the Department of Community Health or any state agency from making Medicaid estate recovery claims against ABLE account funds except as federal law requires.
• Section 2 preserves the existing rule allowing claims against the ABLE Trust Fund for medical assistance costs incurred after the account's establishment, with funds first used for disability expenses.
• Section 3 revises O.C.G.A. § 30-9-15 to add a cross-reference exempting the new Section 30-9-14 rule from the general protection against creditor claims on ABLE accounts.
• Section 4 repeals any conflicting laws.

1. 2026-03-31House Second Readers (House)
2. 2026-03-27House First Readers (House)
3. 2026-03-25House Hopper (House)

• Scott Hilton (R, HD-048)Primary sponsor
• Leesa Hagan (R, HD-156)
• Brent Cox (R, HD-028)
• Angie O'Steen (R, HD-169)

• disability savings accounts
• Medicaid estate recovery
• ABLE accounts
• Department of Community Health
• disability rights