---
title: O.C.G.A. § 31-36B-5. Construction of chapter.
collection: code
id: 31-36B-5
cite_as: O.C.G.A. § 31-36B-5 (2025)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/31-36B-5
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/31-36B-5.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/31-36B-5/text
source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/api/document/docs/default-source/joint-features-document-library/t31-(v23)-2025-pdf.pdf?sfvrsn=da7ded69_0#page=993
date: 2025
status: active
corpus_version: 2025-supplement-89aa39ab3c68
license: CC0-1.0
publisher: Georgia Commons, an independent project of Georgia Civic Data. Not the State of Georgia. Not legal advice.
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version: the only printed version
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current_through: Including Acts of the 2025 Session of the General Assembly of Georgia
heading_path: HEALTH / GEORGIA CAREGIVERS
---

# O.C.G.A. § 31-36B-5. Construction of chapter.

(a) Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to interfere with the rights of a patient or other person legally authorized to make healthcare decisions under Chapter 32 of this title, the “Georgia Advance Directive for Health Care Act,” or under Code Section 31-9-2, or to grant healthcare decision-making authority to a lay caregiver.

(b) Nothing in this chapter shall delay the appropriate discharge or transfer of a patient.

(c) Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to interfere with or supersede a healthcare provider’s instructions regarding a Medicare certified home health agency or any other post-acute care provider.

(d) Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to create a private right of action against a hospital, hospital employee, or duly authorized agent of the hospital, or otherwise supersede or replace existing rights or remedies under any other general or special law.

(e) Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to conflict with or replace the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Conditions of Participation.

## History

Code 1981, § 31-36B-5, enacted by Ga. L. 2022, p. 584, § 1/HB 1304; Ga. L. 2025, p. 1029, § 31(68)/SB 153, effective July 1, 2025.

## Amendments

The 2025 amendment, effective July 1, 2025, part of an Act to revise, modernize, and correct the Code, substituted “federal Centers for Medicare” for “Center for Medicare” in subsection (e).