HB 662: Health; rural hospital organization; revise definition

Georgia gives tax credits to donors who contribute to certain qualifying rural hospitals. To qualify as a 'rural hospital organization,' a hospital currently has to meet a list of tests, including providing inpatient services at a facility in a rural county, keeping at least 10 percent of its revenue tied to indigent or charity care, and having a three-year average patient profit margin below a certain statewide benchmark. HB 662 changes several of those tests. It adds rural freestanding emergency departments (facilities that provide emergency care without full inpatient hospital services) to the list of eligible organizations. It changes the location test so a hospital qualifies if its primary campus is in a rural county, rather than requiring inpatient services there. It lowers the indigent/charity/bad debt revenue threshold from 10 percent to 5 percent, or allows qualification if the hospital is licensed to provide maternal and newborn services. It also removes the requirement that a hospital's three-year average patient profit margin stay below a certain statewide average. The bill repeals any conflicting laws.

• Adds rural freestanding emergency departments, not just acute care hospitals, to the list of facilities that can qualify as a rural hospital organization eligible for the tax credit.
• Changes the location requirement so a hospital qualifies if its primary campus is located in a rural county, rather than requiring it to provide inpatient services there.
• Lowers the required share of annual net revenue tied to indigent care, charity care, or bad debt from 10 percent to 5 percent, or allows qualification if the hospital is licensed for maternal and newborn services.
• Removes the existing requirement that a hospital's three-year average patient profit margin stay below one standard deviation above the statewide average.
• Corrects capitalization of 'Medicare' in the Medicaid and Medicare participation requirement.

Rural hospitals and rural freestanding emergency departments in Georgia that seek to qualify for the state's rural hospital tax credit program, along with individuals and businesses who donate to those facilities to claim the credit, and the Department of Community Health, which administers the program.

By loosening the financial and service criteria, more rural hospitals and emergency facilities could become eligible for donor tax credits, potentially increasing the pool of hospitals that can raise funds this way. Removing the profit margin cap means hospitals with higher margins would no longer be excluded from the program.

• Section 1 revises paragraph (3) of subsection (a) of O.C.G.A. § 31-8-9.1, the core definition of 'rural hospital organization' used throughout the tax credit program.
• Adds rural freestanding emergency departments to the types of facilities that can qualify, alongside acute care hospitals.
• Subparagraph (A) changes the rural location test from 'provides inpatient hospital services at a facility' to 'has its primary campus' located in a rural county or being a critical access hospital.
• Subparagraph (D) lowers the indigent/charity/bad debt revenue threshold from 10 percent to 5 percent or adds an alternative path via maternal and newborn services licensing.
• Deletes former subparagraph (H), which required a hospital's three-year average patient margin to stay below a statewide benchmark calculated by the Department of Community Health.
• Section 2 repeals any conflicting laws.

1. 2026-02-18Senate Read and Referred (Senado)
2. 2026-02-17House Passed/Adopted By Substitute (Cámara de Representantes)
3. 2026-02-17House Third Readers (Cámara de Representantes)
4. 2026-02-10House Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute (Cámara de Representantes)
5. 2025-04-04House Withdrawn, Recommitted (Cámara de Representantes)
6. 2025-03-03House Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute (Cámara de Representantes)
7. 2025-03-03House Second Readers (Cámara de Representantes)
8. 2025-02-28House First Readers (Cámara de Representantes)

• Angie O'Steen (R, HD-169)Patrocinador principal
• Jaclyn Ford (R, HD-170)

1. AprobadaVotación: Cámara de Representantes17 de febrero de 2026

   162 a favor, 0 en contra (4 sin votar, 9 ausentes)

   Passage: House Vote #515

• rural hospitals
• hospital tax credits
• health care funding
• emergency departments
• indigent care