The House had a number of bills on its calendar. Some of these were:

HB 1494 – Rep. Robert Ray introduced this bill to amend the State’s law in Title 45 concerning provision of health insurance to yet another group. This bill authorizes the Department of Community Health Board to "contract with any agricultural commodity commission created pursuant to Chapter 8 of Title 2 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated to provide for the inclusion in such plan of any such commission’s employees and retiring employees and their spouses and dependents." The bill passed by a vote of 155 to zero.

HB 1344 – The Georgia Volunteers in Medicine Health Care Act created in Title 43 has been extended. Provisional licenses are being granted to retired physicians who are licensed to practice medicine and provide such services in a free clinic or for organizations which provide healthcare for indigent persons on a voluntary basis. This bill was to sunset on January 1, 2002 and the House action repeals the sunset clause.

HB 1565 – Rep. Roger Byrd’s bill, which provides for new definitions for a rural hospital and rural physician covered by tax exemptions in Title 48, also passed. The bill states that a rural hospital is an acute care hospital with fewer than 100 beds (currently the law is 80 beds) located in a rural county. It also defines a rural physician as someone "who practices in a rural county and resides in a rural county or a county contiguous to the rural county in which such physician practices and primarily admits patients to a rural hospital and practices in the fields of family practice, obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics, internal medicine, or general surgery."

HR 1224 – This Resolution passed which designates March as National Nutrition Month in Georgia.

HR 1143 – This Resolution provides for promotion of the "check-off" on the State income tax so that persons may contribute to aid in fighting cancer. Legislation passed in 2000 which provides that persons may contribute some or all of their state income tax refund to the Georgia Cancer Research Fund.

On the Senate side, Sen. Jeff Mullis’ bill concerning the Noble, Georgia situation involving Tri-State Crematory, SB 474, made it to the Floor. A Floor Substitute was presented and a Floor Amendment was also made. The bill originally came to the Floor by Committee Substitute which was defeated. The Senate, however, agreed with the Floor Substitute and the Floor Amendment proposed by Sen. Mullis. The bill outlines what is abuse against a dead human body. Action was suspended on the bill due to the length of the Substitute.

The Governor’s bill to require insurance coverage for colorectal cancer screening, HB 1100, was presented by Sen. Steve Thompson. Sen. Mitch Seabaugh attempted to amend the bill to allow for small businesses to be included. Sen. Seabuagh eventually withdrew his amendment and the bill passed by Committee Substitute by a vote of 47 to 1.

In an effort to better prepare the State for acts of terrorism, it passed out SB 459, which allows for additional regulations on the interception of electronic communications and records.

One of the more hotly debated pieces of legislation was HB 360, the bill proposing to create the Safe Place for Newborns Act of 2002. The bill was dropped to the bottom of the Calendar. Cobb County Rep. Judy Manning authored this bill, and Sen. Phil Gingrey, also from Cobb County, presented the bill to the Senate. This legislation provides for a woman to be exempt from criminal prosecution if she leaves her baby within seven days of birth at a hospital as long as the baby shows no signs of abuse or neglect. It also contains provisions concerning when the Department of Human Resources must retrieve the baby from the hospital after being dropped there once the baby is discharged. There were rumors that various amendments were being proposed including abortion-type language as well as informed consent language or the Woman’s Right to Know information.

The Senate Health and Human Services Committee met this morning with a variety of legislation on its agenda. However, Committee activity was light this afternoon primarily due to the lateness of the hour when both houses adjourned. The Senate Insurance and Labor and the Senate Judiciary Committees both met.

In the Senate Health and Human Services Committee meeting, four bills passed through the process. HB 1185, an update to Schedule II drugs as well the regulation of certain opioid drugs, was passed by Substitute. HB 1352, the bill clarifying the number of four physicians’ assistants who may be assigned to a primary supervising physician, also passed, as did SB 472, regarding children’s self-administration of drugs for asthma, and HB 1210, the bill concerning the sharing of information between the Department of Human Resources and agencies concerning children to be placed up for adoption.

The Senate Insurance and Labor Committee passed SB 458, by Sen. Nadine Thomas, which would require that insurers provide coverage for off-label prescription drug use for its insureds with life-threatening or chronic and disabling conditions or diseases. Amendments were made to the bill at the request of the Department of Community Health including the addition that the drug be on the insurer’s preferred drug list or its formulary as one of the conditions. Further, there was a restriction placed that such drug would be subject to the prior authorization process or other restrictions of the health plan before such would be covered. SB 458 now moves to the Senate Rules Committee.

The Department of Insurance had Sen. Robert Brown introduce SB 505, which would create in the Insurance Code an unfair trade practice if an insurance company failed to non-renew an entire line or class of insurance rather than going through the entire cancellation process. Commissioner John Oxendine spoke to the Committee about the bill and explained that it was brought in part due to actions taken by St. Paul Insurance Company when it refused to renew policies for physicians’ medical malpractice coverage. Cathey Steinberg, the State’s Consumer’s Insurance Advocate, also rose in support of the legislation. The only opposition was raised by the Independent Insurance Agents of Georgia as it believes that no complete analysis has been made of the problem and that the General Assembly might be setting a precedent which would not encourage insurance business. SB 505 was passed by the Committee.

The Senate Judiciary Committee met to discuss SB 517 concerning some proposed changes to the estate and gift tax provisions in the Code in order to "impose certain restrictions on the extent to which a trustee who is also a beneficiary of a trust may exercise discretionary powers of distribution over income or principal for his or her own benefit." SB 517 was passed by the Committee and follows laws passed in Florida, Tennessee, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Alabama.