2011 Legislative Summary

Keeping Current @ the Capitol

Final 2011 Session Summary

June 14, 2011

The last day of the 2011 session was April 14. Gov. Nathan Deal had 40 days, until May 24, to sign, veto or allow bills to become law without his signature. This was the first year of a two year session, so bills that did not pass will be eligible for passage in 2011.

A special session will be held beginning August 15th to redraw legislative and congressional districts.

UPDATE ON HMHB LEGISLATIVE AGENDA

  • Support funding for prenatal care for all women in Georgia, including low income pregnant women who do not qualify for Medicaid. Last year, funds were included in the FY 2011 budget to allow the Department of Community Health (DCH) to apply for and implement a family planning demonstration waiver. The Planning for Healthy Babies (P4HB) began serving eligible women in January 2011. The P4HB program was created to assist DCH in lowering the number of low birth weight (LBW) and very low birth weight (VLBW) births in Georgia and to fill a critical gap in health care for underinsured and uninsured Georgians by expanding Medicaid eligibility to women who qualify for family planning services.  In addition to family planning services, women who give birth to a VLBW baby have access to additional services including primary care and care management.

The implementation of P4HB has encountered issues which are affecting access to the program. HMHB is working with DCH and other organizations to address these issues.

  • Oppose legislation that threatens health insurance benefits such as mammograms, pap smears, and childhood immunizations. A bill that we followed all session, HB 47 (Rep. Matt Ramsey, 72nd) allows insurance companies in Georgia to sell individual policies approved in other states whether or not they include minimum services required by Georgia law such a well-child visits, after childbirth hospital stays and preventive measures such as mammograms and pap smears. HB 47 did pass on the 40th day. The final version of the bill included an amendment we supported that requires that the insurance policy include a side-by-side comparison of covered benefits that are defined differently under Georgia law. Gov. Deal signed the bill.

Another bill, SB 17 (Sen. Tim Golden, 8th) creates an Advisory Commission on Mandated Health Benefits. The task of the commission is to evaluate existing health insurance mandates based on their social and financial impact and medical necessity by 12/31/12. The commission also must review any proposals for new mandates. SB 17 passed and was signed by Gov. Deal.

  • Monitor legislation and policy changes that impact services for Medicaid and PeachCare clients. HMHB worked this session to oppose changes to Medicaid and PeachCare that would have a negative impact on accessibility and service to clients. We are concerned that the FY 2012 budget as passed underfunds the Medicaid program by about $160 million. The Governor’s budget proposal underfunded expected Medicaid growth by about $80 million and legislators used another $78 million to cover a shortfall in the State Employee Health Benefit Plan. While borrowing from Medicaid is something budget writers have done for years, the problem is that the funds to fill the gap will have to be found when legislators begin work on the Amended FY 2012 budget next session.

HMHB also supported efforts to fund a plan to use 12 month instead of 6 month reviews for Low Income Medicaid recipients. There was broad support for the proposal, but legislators and DCH disagreed about how much money was needed for implementation. We have been told that thousands of people, mainly children, lose their Medicaid at the 6 month review because of paperwork. While it is believed that most of these still meet eligibility requirements, they experience interruptions in coverage that affect their access to health care and cause problems for providers. It is hoped that this funding will be included in upcoming budgets.

  • Protect funding for pediatric vaccines for underinsured children. The only cuts made to funding for the state’s Immunization program were the loss of $2.49 million in federal ARRA (American Reinvestment and Recovery Act of 2009) funds.  

  • Support funding for a statewide trauma care system. HMHB supported passage last November of an amendment that would have created a $10 car tag fee dedicated to funding a statewide trauma care system. The amendment failed but similar legislation has been re-introduced. SR 140 (Sen. Greg Goggans, 7th) calls for a vote on an amendment to apply a $10 fee on car tags to fund trauma care. SR 140 did not pass but is eligible for passage in 2012. Legislators did include $3.8 million in the FY 2012 budget for the Georgia Trauma Care Commission for a trauma communications network.

 

  • Support an increase in the tobacco tax. Tax reform efforts stalled during the final days of the session. A proposal by the Special Council on Tax Reform and Fairness for Georgians was never seriously considered by legislators. Bills were introduced covering parts of the proposal but there was no vote on the one bill that seemed to have the best chance of passage, HB 388 (Rep. Mickey Channell, 116th). The Special Council held public hearings throughout Georgia in 2010 and was encouraged to include an increase in the tobacco tax, but this was not included in their recommendations.

BUDGET UPDATE

As with other legislation, Gov. Deal had 40 days to sign the budget but he also has the authority to veto line items or language. Governor Deal vetoed only 11 items in the FY 2012 budget and all were bonds that would have financed projects at various locations of the University System of Georgia and technical colleges across Georgia. Highlights from the FY 2012 budget as passed include:

  • In the Department of Community Health (DCH), a reduction of 1% in Medicaid and PeachCare provider fees had been proposed. The conferees agreed to a lower reduction of .5% excluding hospitals, skilled nursing facilities and home and community-based services.
  • Also in DCH, $1 million was included for Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHC) in Berrien, Baldwin, and Putnam counties plus a behavioral health integrated FQHC in Rockdale County; funds were also restored for Medicaid coverage for adult vision, podiatry and dental services, including dental care for pregnant women. Service co pays for PeachCare were also added for children over six.
  • In the Department of Education (DOE), funding for School Nurses was cut 4% ($1,099,980) instead of the $2.749 million cut originally proposed.
  • In the newly created Department of Public Health (DPH), effective July 1, $167,798 was restored in programmatic grant-in-aid for infant and child oral health services, $2.8 million in TANF was used to restore funding for Children 1st, $2.48 million was restored for general grant-in-aid to County Boards of Health, and $3.8 million was added to the Georgia Trauma Care Commission for a trauma communications network.

LEGISLATION

Bills that passed:

HB 200 (Rep. Ed Lindsey, 54th) deals with the issue of human trafficking. It would prohibit traffickers from using as a defense the victim’s sexual history or ignorance of the victim’s age and would increase penalties. Trafficking victims would also be eligible for Crime Victims Compensation Funds if they have serious mental or emotional trauma. STATUS: Signed by the governor.

HB 214 (Rep. Mickey Channell, 116th) establishes a separate Department of Public Health beginning July 1, 2011 as recommended by the Georgia Public Health Commission. Public Health is part of the Department of Community Health. STATUS: Signed by the Governor.

HB 249 (Rep. Barbara Sims, 119th) requires hospitals to provide information on pertussis disease and the availability of a vaccine to parents of newborns. STATUS: Signed by the governor.

SR 627 (Sen. Nan Orrock, 36th) urges the Department of Community Health to implement a public information campaign about the importance of folic acid for women during child-bearing years to prevent birth defects. STATUS: Read and adopted.

Bills that did not pass:

HB 132 (Rep. Ben Watson, 163rd) would require that insurance policies cover any “medical food” required for the treatment of metabolic and genetic disorders when a physician prescribes special dietary foods or formulas that are medically necessary. STATUS: Assigned to House Insurance.

HB 655 (Rep. Ron Stephens, 164th) would create a provider choice system for the Dept. of Community Health’s Vaccines for Children program. Health care providers would be able to select alternative vaccines provided that the vaccines are approved by the Centers for Disease Control. STATUS: Assigned to House Health & Human Services. 

Prepared for HMHB by Mary Frances Williams