New Georgia Laws In 2024: Here’s What You Should Know

At midnight of 2024, several laws came into force together with the new year. Here are some things to be aware of about recently passed laws as well as updated laws.

House Bill 128: Revenue and taxation

Representation of women- and veteran-owned firms, as well as minority business enterprises, in state contract procurement. 

In the area of state contract procurement for construction, services, equipment, and goods, House Bill 128 guarantees the representation of women-owned, minority-owned, and veteran-owned businesses. It also addresses related issues, establishes an effective date, repeals conflicting laws, and accomplishes other goals.

Catch Act: Contracted Healthcare Accessible To Consumers

In order to guarantee that consumers have access to high-quality healthcare, the “Billing Consumer Protection Act” establishes guidelines for the network plans that insurers offer, specifies an exemption, and prevents insurers from refusing preauthorization for medical services to be rendered by a participating provider merely on the grounds that the referral came from a non-participating provider.

The Georgia Mental Health Parity Act:

House Bill 1013 requires compliance with the federal “Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008” for health insurance plans that cover mental health treatment or drug use disorders. A yearly comparative analysis report that health insurers are required to submit to the insurance commissioner can be viewed on the website of the Office of the Commissioner of Insurance and Safety Fire (OCI). Fines for late report submissions can range from $2,000 to $5,000. The commissioner is responsible for overseeing health insurers’ adherence to the mental health parity regulations and establishing a complaint procedure for infractions of the policy. Insurance companies that violate mental health parity may be subject to fines, compliance plans, or claim reprocessing as punitive measures. Appointed by the commissioner is a mental health parity officer.

House Bill 175: Special and Prestige License Plates

Regarding luxury license plates and customized plates for specific individuals and automobiles, with the aim of defining the terms, designing and distributing a unique license plate for state constitutional 4 officers and Public Service Commission members, designing special license plates for retired active reserve 6 members and the Georgia National Guard, creating a specialty plate honoring Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc., and creating a specialty plate honoring Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.