--- title: O.C.G.A. § 49-4-156. Comprehensive Health Coverage Commission; membership; purpose; termination. collection: code id: 49-4-156 cite_as: O.C.G.A. § 49-4-156 (2025) canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/49-4-156 md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/49-4-156.md text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/49-4-156/text source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/api/document/docs/default-source/joint-features-document-library/t49-t50-ch1-12-(v38)-pdf.pdf?sfvrsn=54e3505_0#page=9 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. up: https://georgiacommons.org/code/49-4.md previous: https://georgiacommons.org/code/49-4-155.md next: https://georgiacommons.org/code/49-4-156.1.md index: https://georgiacommons.org/code/index.md version: the only printed version in_force: true current_through: Including Acts of the 2025 Regular Session of the General Assembly heading_path: SOCIAL SERVICES / PUBLIC ASSISTANCE / MEDICAL ASSISTANCE GENERALLY --- # O.C.G.A. § 49-4-156. Comprehensive Health Coverage Commission; membership; purpose; termination. (a) There is created the Comprehensive Health Coverage Commission. The commission shall be attached to the Department of Community Health for administrative purposes only as provided by Code Section 50-4-3. (b) The commission shall consist of nine members, who shall be appointed no later than July 1, 2024, as follows: (1) The chairperson, who shall be a subject matter expert on health policy, and shall not be an employee of the State of Georgia, to be appointed by the Governor; (2) Three nonlegislative members to be appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives; (3) Three nonlegislative members to be appointed by the President of the Senate; (4) One nonlegislative member to be appointed by the minority leader of the Senate; and (5) One nonlegislative member to be appointed by the minority leader of the House of Representatives. (c) Members of the commission shall not be registered lobbyists in the State of Georgia. (d) Members of the commission shall serve without compensation. (e) The purpose of the commission shall be to advise the Governor, the General Assembly, and the Department of Community Health, as the administrator of the state medical assistance program, on issues related to access and quality of healthcare for Georgia’s low-income and uninsured populations. The commission shall be tasked with reviewing the following: (1) Opportunities related to reimbursement and funding for Georgia healthcare providers, including premium assistance programs; (2) Opportunities related to quality improvement of healthcare for Georgia’s low-income and uninsured populations; and (3) Opportunities to enhance service delivery and coordination of healthcare among and across state agencies. (f) Subject to appropriations, the commission shall contract with experts and consultants to produce a semiannual report on its findings for the Governor and the General Assembly. The commission shall provide its initial report to the Governor and the General Assembly no later than December 1, 2024. (g) The commission shall stand abolished on December 31, 2026, unless extended by the General Assembly prior to such date. ## History Code 1981, § 49-4-156, enacted by Ga. L. 2024, p. 45, § 12/HB 1339, effective April 19, 2024. ## Editor's Notes The former Code section, concerning rights and duties under existing transactions, was based on Ga. L. 1977, p. 384, § 15 and was repealed by Ga. L. 1999, p. 296, § 20, effective July 1, 1999. Subse-quently, another former version of this Code section, concerning tax exemption for health maintenance organizations with respect to contracts pursuant to this article, was based on Code 1981, § 49-4-156, enacted by Ga. L. 2005, p. 1438, § 3/SB 140, and was repealed by Ga. L. 2010, p. 125, § 1, effective July 1, 2010. ## Law Reviews For article on the 2024 enactment of this Code section, see 41 Ga. L. Rev. 95 (2024). ## Effective Date This Code section became effective April 19, 2024.