March 2, 2001

For more information contact:

Stanley S. Jones, Jr.

404-817-6133

            Greetings!  Today was day 30.  Does anything more need to be said?  Both the House and Senate crammed a good bit into their schedules with both chambers hearing a number of bills.  Committee activity was limited as the Legislators appeared to be weary and wanting to go home over the weekend.  Below will outline some of the day's events: 

Floor Activity 

          The Senate zoomed through its calendar this morning.  It appeared that everyone was anxious to leave town or at least tend to other matters.  

          Sens. Polak and Lamutt's bill, SB 214 which proposes to create the Georgia Database Protection and Economic Development Act of 2001, passed by a vote of 49 yeas to zero.  SB 214 came to the Floor with a Committee amendment and an additional Floor amendment was made by amending the term "Data Base" to "Database."  The bill states that its purpose is: 

"help foster the development of an information market in this state and related investment in information storage, processing, and communications systems by establishing limited protections for the owners of databases against unauthorized commercialization in order to reward investment of time, money, and effort in the creation of databases." 

          Further, the bill would eliminate any commercialization of a database except by the database's owner or with that owner's permission. 

          Sen. Faye Smith's bill designating the Georgia Wine Trail, SB 155, also passed out of the Senate today by a vote of 50 yeas to zero nays. 

          Rep. Stan Watson's bill dealing with privacy of financial information, HB 455, has now arrived in the Senate.  HB 455 has been assigned to the Senate Committee on Banking and Finance.  Speaker Murphy's bill dealing with regional planning units and community service boards and their delivery of home and community based services, HB 498, has also made its way to the Senate.  HB 498 has been assigned to the Health and Human Services Committee.  HB 452, authored by Rep. Ron Dodson, which deals with healthcare workforce shortage, has also arrived in the Senate and has been assigned to the Health and Human Services Committee. 

          House activity was another story.  It took a great deal of time with the pay day loan bill.  Thus, most of the other bills seemed to languish and the House did not complete its calendar until well after lunch. 

          The pay day loan bill, HB 207, was authored by Rep. Reichert from Macon, among others.  This bill is an effort to regulate this industry which preys on people who may otherwise be unable to obtain credit.  These companies, under this proposal, would be required to be bonded and licensed by the State's Department of Banking and Finance.  In presenting the bill, Rep. Reichert stated that this proposal was much more stringent than the law that Tennessee has on pay day loan companies.  There was support for the bill by several Representatives and many took the Well to give credence to the bill, including Speaker Murphy.  He explained that this business had been going on at least 51 years and he was angry that there are people getting rich off of poor folks.  He also stated that he understood that small loan companies and banks were against the bill, but he thought that the small loan companies would be supportive; now these pay day loan operators would have to report to the Banking and Finance Department.  After much discussion, there were amendments placed on the bill – including those by Rep. Mangham and Rep. Dean, as well as an additional amendment by the bill's author, Rep. Reichert.  In the final vote, the bill passed by a vote of 136 yeas to 38 nays. 

          The bill proposes to address the following:  

1)      capping a fee of $45.00 per loan;

2)      limiting the number of rollovers per borrower to one per loan amount;

3)      prohibiting pay day loan companies from requiring collateral or a co-signer on a loan;

4)      establishing a limit of $500.00 per borrower on loans;

5)      requiring a separate agreement for each check; and

6)      eliminating criminal prosecution if the check bounces unless the account on which the check was drawn was closed on the same day that the check was written. 

The bill also proposes that the Department "may refuse to issue a license, or may revoke an existing license, if it finds that the applicant, or any person who is a director, officer, partner, agent, employee, or ultimate equitable owner of 10 percent or more of the applicant, has been convicted of a felony involving moral turpitude in any jurisdiction or of a crime that, if committed within this state, would constitute a felony involving moral turpitude under the laws of this state."   Any business which is licensed under this proposal would be required to do the following: 

"(1)Maintain and use in its business any books, accounts, and records the commissioner may require to carry into effect the provisions of this chapter and the administrative regulations issued under this chapter;
(2) Preserve its books, accounts, and records for at least two years or such longer period as provided by regulations.  The books, accounts, and records must be maintained separately from those relating to any other business or businesses in which the person is engaged;
(3) Comply with all applicable provisions of state and federal law regarding cash transactions and cash transaction reporting; and
(4) Display its license in a conspicuous location in each place of business and post a notice in a conspicuous location in each place of business containing a description of the charges imposed by the licensee.
(5) Display in a conspicuous location in each place of business the name and toll free telephone number of Consumer Credit Counseling."

          One of the bills on the House calendar was authored by the Speaker.  HB 478 has already caused quite a debate amongst the trial bar and the insurance industry.  However, today the bill appeared to zoom through the process after the House Judiciary Committee came up with a substitute version of the bill – the bill passed, as passed out of the Judiciary Committee by Substitute, by 155 yeas to zero nays.  

HB 478 proposes to "reign" in insurance companies which issue "bad faith" refusals in the payment of insurance claims.  The law currently provides a penalty of 25% of the insurance claim amount to these insurance companies which issue "bad faith" offers.  Further, by paying an insurance claim prior to trial or a hearing date, the insurance company is then forgiven from payment of any "bad faith" penalties.  Apparently, one such insurance company took advantage of this in a matter which Speaker Murphy was handling for a client.  In any event, the companies, which deny or submit low payment offers to the insurance claimants, gamble that these claimants will not file suit or otherwise fight the claims.  Should a case be filed in a court, then the insurance company generally pays the claimed amount prior to trial or hearing and leaves the insurance claimant with his or her legal fees.  The Speaker's bill fixes this problem by increasing the penalty for the "bad faith" claims refusal.  The insurance company must respond with payment before 60 days.  The new penalty would be the greater of 50% of the claim amount or $5,000.  Further, the bill provides that penalties for these "bad faith" refusals would not be removed once the payment is received, if the 60 days has already expired.  The insurer must receive the claimant's demand for payment in writing.  Also, the claimant cannot file a lawsuit until the insurance company has refused to pay. 

          The House also passed out HB 585, a bill which was authored by Rep. Parham and Rep. Graves.  This legislation proposes to require pharmacy benefit managers ("PBMs") to be licensed in Georgia as a pharmacy.  This would add a new section in the Code at O.C.G.A. § 26-4-110.1.  Specifically, the bill defines "PBMs" as "any person, corporation, or other entity that administers the prescription drug, prescription device, or both prescription drug and device portion of a health benefit plan on behalf of an insurer and in so doing performs any act which constitutes the practice of pharmacy."  Further, these PBMs will now be required to "licensed to practice as a pharmacy in this state and shall comply with those provisions of O.C.G.A. § 26-4-110, except subsections (h), (i), and (j) thereof.  As a condition for licensing, every pharmacy benefit manager shall permit the board or agents or employees thereof to inspect the premises of such pharmacy benefit manager whether those premises are located within or outside this state."

          HB 569, a proposal which relates to pleadings filed subsequent to the original complaint, as outlined in O.C.G.A. § 9-11-5 and O.C.G.A. § 15-6-21, passed by a vote of 157 to zero.  HB 578, presented by Rep. Richard Royal which removes the Tobacco Community Development Board from the Department of Agriculture to the Office of Planning and Budget, also passed by a vote of 160 yeas to zero.  

Another bill which passed was HB 737 which proposes to amend O.C.G.A. § 9-15-14 relating to frivolous lawsuits.  HB 737 specifically states now in subparagraph (g) that:

"Attorney's fees and expenses of litigation awarded under this Code section in a prior action between the same parties shall be treated as court costs with regard to the filing of any subsequent action." 

          SB 30, Sen. Ray's bill relating to release of medical records and payment associated with obtaining such records, has now been assigned to the House Judiciary Committee for its review.  Also, SB 119 regarding the licensing of mental health therapists, as authored by Sen. Charles Walker, has also landed in the House and has been assigned to the House Health and Ecology Committee for its review.         

Committee Activity 

          As usual, the Senate Rules Committee meeting was somewhat interesting.  House Bills are continuing to be held in an effort to get the Senators' bills out of the Senate.   There will be 15 bills on the Senate's Rules Calendar on Monday.  There was a good deal of discussion on the bill relating to the closure time of the bars in Buckhead and why the City of Atlanta cannot address this issue within its own structure.  Sen. David Scott explained that he had no interest in seeing a "floor fight" on this matter and wished that something could be done to deal with the horrendous issues concerning the shootings and killings in Buckhead.  The resolution proposed in the bill, SB 75, will make this closure of 3:00 a.m.  Sen. Rusty Paul of Atlanta requested the bill be considered and Sen. Eric Johnson moved that it be included on the Calendar.  

          Some of the other bills to appear this Monday: 

          SB 59 – Sen. Starr moved to include this bill dealing with outdoor advertising.  Apparently, there has been language deleted from the bill to address concerns about the distances involved for these interstate highway locations.  The bill also addresses regulation of multiple message signs. 

          SB 75 – Sen. James asked that this bill relating to acupuncture licensure and the deletion of test requirements so that authorized certified chiropractors may use acupuncture in their practice will also appear. 

          In discussing the bills which were "available," Sen. Scott reminded the Committee that some bills were not yet ready for the "available" list.  These included SB 98, Sen. Steve Thompson's bill relating to the requirement that health plans pay for the ovarian cancer surveillance tests for those women who were high risk candidates, and SB 131, Sen. Robert Brown's bill pertaining to the centralized credentialing of healthcare practitioners. 

          The House Appropriations Committee met and passed out its proposal for the FY 2002 Budget.  This now will proceed to get the full approval of the House.  Some of the inclusions, aside from the many items listed as "pork" in the Department of Community Affairs Budget summary, in the FY 2002 Budget are:

           Department of Community Health: 

1)                 Provide for additional funds for increased utilization in Medicaid Benefits ($36,128,669) and increases in costs and utilization of pharmaceuticals for the Medicaid population ($54,193,003) netted against federal matching funds by utilization of upper payment limit (UPL) credits (Total funds: $222,357,637) – State dollars of $9,018,115 (the Governor had proposed $20,621,672 in State funds)

2)                 To reimburse physicians and physician-related providers based on 90% of the 1999 Resource Based Relative Value Scale (RBRVS) with one year of inflation applied (Total funds: $15,106,738 under Governor's recommendation with State dollars of $6,136,357) (HBC: Total Funds $17,568,579) – State dollars of $7,136,357 (thus an increase of $1,000,000)

3)                 To transfer the State matching funds for MR waiver services from DCH to the Department of Human Resources (DHR) to support DHR administration of Medicaid waiver services – no transfer (Governor had proposed $51,246,606 be transferred)

4)                 To transfer the State matching funds for community mental health services from DCH to DHR to support DHR administration of Medicaid services – no transfer (Governor had proposed $37,138,648 be transferred)

5)                 To transfer funds to DHR for services for persons HIV-positive or diagnosed with AIDS, pending approval of the Medicaid AIDS waiver by HCFA - $350,000 to transfer (Governor had proposed a $375,000 transfer)

6)                 To provide Medicaid coverage for children in families with incomes up to 150% of the federal poverty level (FPL) (Total funds: $7,407,920) (HBC: reflects PeachCare match rate) - $2,126,097 (Governor had proposed $3,009,097)

7)                 To provide funds to implement a Medicaid waiver to provide services to persons over age 18 with Sickle Cell Anemia with incomes under 235% of the FPL (Total Funds: $4,800,000) (HBC: reflects October 1^st startup – total funds: $3,384,441) – State funds of $1,374,760 (Governor had proposed $1,949,760)

8)                 To provide funds to implement a Medicaid waiver to provide services to persons over age 18 with Cystic Fibrosis with incomes under 235% of the FPL  (Total funds; $4,016,435) (HBC: reflects October 1^st startup – total funds$3,031,699) - $1,231,476 (Governor had proposed $1,631,476)

9)                 To provide funds to increase reimbursement to Independent Care Waiver Program providers by 4%s (Total funds $870,687) (HBC: funds 5% rate increase – total funds $1,363,055) - $553,673 (Governor had proposed $353,673)

10)             To provide funds to increase Medicaid reimbursement rates for pediatric home health visits (Total funds $307,730) - $125,000 (this is a new item)

11)             To provide funds to increase Medicaid reimbursement rates for rural home health providers (Total funds $677,006) - $275,000 (a new item)

12)             To authorize the DCH, subject to availability of funds, to increase Medicaid reimbursement rates for inpatient hospital providers through utilization of a more current cost report – yes (a new item)

13)             To annualize the increase in funding for non-emergency transportation provided in HB 174 (supplemental Budget) (Total funds $6,641,279) - $2,714,955 (a new item)

14)             To annualize the reimbursement rates for Critical Access Hospitals provided in HB 174 (Total funds $10,470,144)  - $4,280,195 (a new item)

15)             To provide funds for the implementation of HB 156 (physician profiling bill) - $450,000 ( a new item)