Lawmakers and lobbyists trudged through fog and rain to the Georgia State Capitol on Monday for the convening of Legislative Day 6. Recovering gingerly from the debilitating dusting of snow in Atlanta last week, senators and representatives checked another day off the legislative calendar with short floor sessions before a handful of organizational committee meetings and House Appropriations subcommittee hearings on the State’s spending plan. Despite the relatively light day under the Gold Dome, slightly heavier lifting was going on across the street as site work continued on the new legislative office building. Due for completion ahead of the 2027 Legislative Session, we’ll keep you posted with periodic progress updates in the #GoldDomeReport.
For our loyal clients and subscribers who are receiving this as your first Gold Dome Report of 2025, please accept our apologies. A system transition resulted in many readers being excluded from our distribution list. We hope we have resolved all discrepancies and invite you to catch up on our first five issues of the year here.
In this Report:
- Committee Notes
- New Legislation
- What’s Next
Committee Notes
House Health Committee
The House Health Committee, chaired by Representative Lee Hawkins (R-Gainesville), met for its first meeting of the year on Monday. After adopting its rules for the session, the committee heard testimony from several individuals:
- Dr. Brooke Means, co-owner of North Georgia Audiology and Hearing Aid Center, spoke to the committee about the practice of audiology and its importance across the state of Georgia. She noted that two million Georgians have hearing loss, and audiology is integral to ensuring quality of life. Dr. Means highlighted obstacles faced by her practice, including disputes with Blue Cross Blue Shield over coverage and payment decisions and third party payor programs. She noted that Georgia’s audiology statute is outdated and needs modernization to help address payor issues. In response to a question by Representative Rick Jasperse (R-Jasper), Dr. Means noted there is a shortage of audiologists in the state, and there is no doctor of audiology program in Georgia.
- Dr. Susan Blank, Medical Director of the Georgia Professionals Health Program, talked to the committee about Georgia PHP’s work helping medical professionals facing mental health conditions that may impair their practice. Georgia PHP contracts with the Georgia Composite Medical Board to triage, refer, and monitor medical professionals in the management of mental health and substance abuse disorders. Georgia PHP has a 90% success rate at 5 years.
- John Smith, Vice President of Government Relations at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, provided an overview of the health system and updates on recent projects. Children’s sees children from all 159 counties and had 1.2 million patient encounters last year. Children’s has over 60 specialties and operates the only level four pediatric emergency department and NICU in the state. Mr. Smith also highlighted Children’s rural initiatives focused on supporting rural hospitals and pediatricians and offering behavioral and mental health support in rural counties. Children’s currently partners with Mercer University School of Medicine to sponsor 10 scholarships for physicians who train and commit to working in rural communities. It is also standing up a clinic to help with pediatric neurologic disorders including PANS and PANDAS.
- Commissioner Russel Carlson and CIO Chad Purcell of the Department of Community Health closed testimony with a demonstration of Georgia CareConnect. This platform presents Medicaid and State Health Benefit Plan data on enrollment and claims in dashboard form to inform discussions and decisions.
New Legislation
The following new legislation of interest has been introduced in the House:
The following new legislation of interest has been introduced in the Senate:
