HB 1318 – Rep. Rogers and others have proposed this amendment to O.C.G.A. § 34-9-201 concerning the selection of a physician from a panel of physicians and to authorize an employer to schedule a medical appointment for an employee with an authorized treating physician. This relates to workers compensation.

"The employer shall maintain a list of at least six physicians or professional associations or corporations of physicians who are reasonably accessible to the employees; provided, however, that the board may grant exceptions to the required size of the panel where it is demonstrated that more than four physicians or groups of physicians are not reasonably accessible. This list shall be known as the 'Panel of Physicians.' At least one of the physicians must practice the specialty of orthopedic surgery. Not more than two industrial clinics shall be included on the panel. An employee may accept the services of a physician selected by the employer from the panel or may select another physician from the panel. The physicians selected under this subsection from the panel may arrange for any consultation, referral, and extraordinary or other specialized medical services as the nature of the injury shall require without prior authorization from the board; provided, however, that any medical practitioner providing services as arranged by a primary authorized treating physician under this subsection shall not be permitted to arrange for any additional referrals. The employee may make one change from one physician to another on the same panel without prior authorization of the board;
(2) The employer may maintain a list of physicians in conformity with the guidelines and criteria established and contained in the Rules and Regulations of the State Board of Workers’ Compensation. This list shall be known as the 'Conformed Panel of Physicians.' An employee may obtain the services of any physician from the conformed panel and may thereafter also elect to change to another physician on the panel without prior authorization of the board. The physician so selected will then become the primary authorized treating physician in control of the employee’s medical care and may arrange for any consultation, referral, and extraordinary or other specialized medical services as the nature of the injury shall require without prior authorization by the board; provided, however, that any of the physicians to whom the employee is referred by the primary authorized treating physician shall not be permitted to arrange for any additional referrals; or
(3) A self-insured employer or the workers’ compensation insurer of an employer may contract with a managed care organization certified pursuant to O.C.G.A. § 34-9-208 for medical services required by this chapter to be provided to injured employees. Medical services provided under this paragraph shall be known as 'Managed Care Organization Procedures.' Those employees who are subject to the contract shall receive medical services in the manner prescribed in the contract. Each such contract must comply with the certification standards provided in O.C.G.A. § 34-9-208. Self-insured employers or workers’ compensation insurers who contract with a managed care organization for medical services shall give notice to the employees of the eligible medical service providers and such other information regarding the contract and manner of receiving medical services as the board may prescribe."

Also among the bill’s provisions include a new subparagraph (h): "The employer shall be authorized to schedule the date and time of an appointment with an authorized treating physician designated and paid for by the employer for examination of an employee, to which such employee shall submit upon notification." This bill has been sent to the House Industrial Relations Committee for review.

HB 1322 – Reps. Rich Golick, Jay Shaw, Don Wix, Greg Morris and Ben Harbin have authored this proposal to amend Chapter 7 of Title 48 concerning income taxes in an effort to provide that Georgia taxable net income of an individual taxpayer who is 62 years or older shall not include an amount expended by such taxpayer for premiums for long-term care insurance for a qualifying family member. This would add a new subparagraph (11) to O.C.G.A. § 48-7-27. This bill has been referred to the House Ways & Means Committee.

HB 1344 – Reps. Pinholster and others have proposed this bill which has language that it is the General Assembly’s intent to "eliminate the future "sunset" of the provisions of Code Section 43-34-45.1 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, the "Georgia Volunteers in Medicine Health Care Act."

HB 1350 – Reps. Channell, Childers, Coleman, Parrish and Henson have authored this bill to amend Title 31 relating to the Dept. of Community Health to award grants, as funds become available, to rural hospitals for public health purposes. This changes current law where the funds would be administered by the Dept. of Human Resources to the Dept. of Community Health. This appears to mirror Sen. Hill’s bill, SB 442.

HB 1352 – Reps. Childers and Hudson have introduced this bill to amend current law concerning the supervision of physician’s assistants by physicians. The bill defines "alternate supervising physician" as a "physician to whom a primary supervising physician has delegated the responsibility of supervising a physician’s assistant who is licensed to that primary supervising physician and who agrees to supervise the physician’s assistant for the primary supervising physician and who is on record with the board." The "primary supervising physician" is "the physician to whom the board licenses a physician’s assistant pursuant to a board approved job description and who has the primary responsibility for supervising the practice of that physician’s assistant." No primary supervising physician may supervise more than four physician’s assistants at a time. Further a physician may supervise as many as four physician’s assistants at any one time while practicing in a group practice in which other physician members of such group practice are primary supervising physicians. Also, a physician may supervise as many as four physician’s assistants at any one time while acting as an alternate supervising physician: 1) in an institutional setting such as a hospital or clinic; 2) on call for a primary supervising physician or a group practice; or 3) if otherwise approved by the board to act as an alternate supervising physician. A primary supervising physician has to designate in writing to the board such other doctors who may serve as an alternate supervising physician for each physician’s assistant licensed to such primary supervising physician.

HB 1361 – The Governor’s bill on fair lending has been introduced by his Floor Leaders: Reps. Smith; Turnquest; and Dukes. This proposal would enact the "Georgia Fair Lending Act" in Title 7. It would provide for the provision of abusive home loan practices and prohibit practices and limitations relating to high-cost home loans. Further, there are specific and numerous consumer protections for high-cost home loans and some exceptions for unintentional violations. High-cost loans are defined as having to meet certain thresholds - such as the total points and fees in connection with the loan, excluding not more than two bona fide discount points, exceed: 1) 5% of the total loan amount if the total loan amount is $20,000 or more; or 2) the lesser of 8% of the total loan amount or $1,000 if the total loan amount is less than $20,000.

HR 1083 – Rep. Harrell and others have proposed this Resolution in an effort to create a House Study Committee on Prescription Drug Addiction.

SB 432 – Sen. Hamrick has proposed a revisions to the State’s law on "Computer Pornography and Child Exploitation Prevention Act of 1999" in an effort to change the penalties associated with a person found guilty of "intentionally or willfully utilizing a computer on-line service, Internet service or local bulletin board service to seduce, solicit, lure, or entice or attempt to seduce, solicit, lure, or entice a child or another person believed by such person to be a child, to commit any illegal act described in Code Section 16-6-2, relating to the offense of sodomy or aggravated sodomy; Code Section 16-6-4, relating to the offense of child molestation or aggravated child molestation; Code Section 16-6-5, relating to the offense of enticing a child for indecent purposes; or Code Section 16-6-8, relating to the offense of public indecency; or to engage in any conduct that by its nature is an unlawful sexual offense against a child." Such a person would be guilty of a felony with a punishment of imprisonment of not less than one nor more than five years or by a fine of not more than $50,000 or both. This bill has been referred to the Senate Defense, Science and Technology Committee.

SB 435 – Sen. Scott has introduced his version of the predatory lending legislation which is to amend Part 2 of Article 15 of Chapter 1 of Title 10. It would be known as the "Prevention of Predatory Lending Through Education Act."

SB 442 – Sens. Jack Hill, Richard Marable and Nadine Thomas have authored this amendment to Title 31 in an effort to authorize the Dept. of Community Health to award grants, as funds become available, to rural hospitals for public health purposes. This changes current law where the funds would be administered by the Dept. of Human Resources to the Dept. of Community Health.

SB 444 – Sens. James, Gingrey, Tate, Thomas, and Stokes have authored this proposal to amend Article 1 of Chapter 24 of Title 33 concerning the requirement of health benefit policies to require insurance coverage for estrogen implants. It will require that every health benefit policy which is delivered, issued, executed, or renewed in Georgia or approved for issuance or renewal in the State by the Dept. of Insurance "shall offer coverage for estrogen implants."

SR 620 – Sens. Hill and others have proposed the declaration of February 28, 2002 as the "Governor’s Council on Developmental Disabilities Day" at the Capitol.

The House Judiciary Committee passed out a Substitute to HB 1238 regarding the amendment to the Evidence Code at Title 24 concerning the list of healthcare professionals from whom narrative reports can be received and from whom bills can be submitted into evidence. It will now allow, as admissible evidence, in a civil trial involving injury or disease, a medical report, in narrative form which has been signed and dated by an examining or treating licensed individual to be received from the following: physician; dentist; orthodontist; podiatrist; optometrist; physical or occupational therapist; doctor of chiropractic; psychologist; advanced practice nurse; social worker; professional counselor; or marriage and family therapist.

In a lengthy Health Professions Subcommittee meeting of the House Health and Ecology Committee, two bills were heard. HB 1156 which is authored by Rep. Tommy Smith, attempts to modify the rule process by which a pharmaceutical agent is added to the list of drugs which an optometrist may prescribe. Many believed that this bill was an attempt to amend the ‘scope of practice’ for an optometrist. The Subcommittee was greatly concerned about amending the Administrative Procedures Act provisions by which a rule is added/changed. The Georgia Society of Ophthalmologists spoke out against the bill. The Subcommittee also noted that it had not been receiving notices, as provided by law, concerning various rule proposals. There were also discussions about the Attorney General’s role in this review pertaining to the rule making process. After all the discussion, the bill was tabled until next week for further amendments.

Also, the Subcommittee heard HB 1199 concerning the licensure requirements for chiropractors. HB 1199 was defeated in Subcommittee, which proposed to allow chiropractors to "diagnose" which the bill defines as a "means a process which attempts to identify the nature and cause of a patient’s complaint or abnormal finding, or both, and is essential to the ongoing process of reasoning used by the doctor of chiropractic to direct patient management" and would have also required that chiropractic students meet the requirements of the Council on Chiropractic Education by including three such standards in the bill. Life College President, Sid Williams, testified at the hearing against the bill.

The Senate Health and Human Services Committee passed out the Dept. of Human Resources’ rewrite, HB 498, amending the current law on the delivery of mental health, mental retardation, and substance abuse services through the Community Service Boards. There have been some concerns raised pertaining to the bill relating to certificate of need issues (Dept. of Human Resources and Dept. of Community Health have apparently some ‘consent’ agreement by which a CSB may operate these stabilization units).

Additionally, the Senate Health and Human Services Committee passed out the bill, SB 145, which prohibits a private physician’s office from using a "phlebotomist, laboratory technician, laboratory technologist, employee or agent of a lab." The Medical Association of Georgia is against this bill.

In an effort to address the healthcare workforce shortages, the Health and Human Services Committee also passed out Rep. Ron Dodson’s bill, HB 652, which had been a measure requested by the Georgia Hospital Association. There was no discussion on the bill.

A Subcommittee from House Insurance met and took up the Governor’s bill on colorectal cancer screening. HB 1100 passed out of the Subcommittee, by committee substitute. This bill will be before the full House Insurance Committee on Tuesday.

The Senate Judiciary Committee also held an interesting meeting. The Governor’s bill on "bioterrorism" efforts made it out of the Committee – initially without any discussion. SB 385 proposes to clarify various powers of the Dept. of Human Resources’ Division of Public Health in the event of an emergency situation. A number of individuals were angered that Chairman Kemp moved the bill out of the Committee without allowing public testimony, even though a list of persons who wished to testify had been established. Sen. Kemp tried to apologize explaining that he was trying to hasten through the process in an effort to get the bills noted on the report by the Secretary of the Senate. Joe Young, counsel to Governor Barnes, also attended the meeting and tried to address various issues brought up in the public testimony. Some included having religious exemptions for taking vaccines or medical exemptions for someone critically ill.

The House Health and Ecology Subcommittee on General Health also held a meeting on Hepatitis C and its impact on Georgia’s population. Representatives from the Division of Public Health, including Dr. Kathleen Toomey, were present to give the Subcommittee information on various forms of Hepatitis as well some ‘wish list’ funding items which the General Assembly could consider (such as vaccines for prison populations for Hepatitis B). Apparently, treatment costs for Hepatitis C are very expensive – the drug alone is approximately $8,000 per patient as noted by Schering-Plough’s representative.

SB 356, Sen. Brown’s amendment to O.C.G.A. § 31-33-2 concerning furnishing copies of records to patients or providers so as to allow a provider to release copies of medical records of deceased and living persons to that person’s representative or survivor has now crossed over to the House and has been assigned to the House Judiciary Committee.