[ July 27, 2020 ] I have been working on letting you know what happened during our last legislative session, because I have always been impressed by how much folks know and want to know. I get lots of questions, ideas, and comments through my website, rickjasperse.org. It is helpful to read and listen to what folks are thinking.

This week I will cover a few of the issues we addressed in Healthcare. I am on the Health committee and had the opportunity to help with a lot of these bills. If I had to pick one as the most important, it would be the work we did surrounding regulating assisted living. The Atlanta Journal did a great job showing some problems in the rules and laws concerning our loved ones in assisted living. It was heartbreaking to read the weeks upon weeks of articles on this issue. My friend and veteran legislator, Sharon Cooper from Cobb County, took on this issue. She has been very involved in the strengthening of the laws around Elder Abuse and was the perfect one to take this on.

HB 987 creates regulation for Assisted Living facilities; our bill improves training initially and annually for employees, setting standards for the number of caregivers to patients and addresses financial issues. HB 987 creates a monetary fine schedule for violations of the code section. The bill also addresses memory care units in a similar way. Staffing requirements are specific and tailored to memory care. We all have friends and family that will benefit for this important work.

This may be the most important bill that affects most all of us right now in our pocketbook. Three bills addressing Pharmacy benefits were passed. David Knight is from Griffin and has been working on issues regarding our Pharmacy benefit plans. David sits right behind me and we have been talking and working on this issue for years. These bills will increase transparency and help manage drug costs and equal lower costs to us. They will enact sweeping reforms of pharmacy benefit managers, including barring them from charging an insurance company more for a drug than it cost from a pharmacy. Pharmacy benefit managers could not bar a cheaper version of a drug from insurance policy coverage or require policy holders to fill prescriptions at specific pharmacies. The bill would also allow the Georgia insurance commissioner more oversight over the industry and increase penalties for violating state regulations.

Surprise billing has been an issue for all of us who have had the unfortunate opportunity to experience hospital bills. Richard Smith from Columbus had worked on this for years and finally got it done. HB 888 is a comfort to many who receive a bill resulting from an event in which charges arise from a covered person receiving health care services from an out-of-network provider at an in-network facility. This is for plans regulated by the Dept of Insurance. Insurance is complex, and this bill will help a lot of folks in our community.

It is hard to select a just a few Health care bills to talk about, but these are my top three. I have a summary of many of them if you are interested in the above or others. Just email me at rick.jasperse@house.ga.gov or call me at home 770-893-2039, or the Capitol office 404-656-7153. I appreciate the opportunity to be your voice in the Capitol and help you with Georgia issues.