Two proposed bills targeting the Affordable Care Act cleared another hurdle in the state Legislature Monday.
Members of the House Judiciary Civil Committee voted to approve House Bill 990, which would strip Gov. Nathan Deal of the power to expand the state's Medicaid program as called for by the Affordable Care Act. Instead, it would put that decision in the hands of the General Assembly.
“I certainly believe it should be a vote of the Legislature for something so consequential,” said Rep. Jan Jones, R-Milton, who sponsored the bill. HB 990 is also backed by other top House leaders.
Expansion, a pillar of the health care law, would add an estimated 650,000 low-income Georgians to the Medicaid rolls. Deal has opposed expansion, estimating its cost at $4 billion over 10 years. Expansion supporters argue the true cost would be closer to half of that.
HB 990 is just another hurdle to expansion in Georgia, said Tim Sweeney, a health care policy expert at the left-leaning Georgia Budget & Policy Institute. Sweeney estimates expansion would cost Georgia $350 million over a decade, once new sales tax and other revenue stemming from the law are factored in.
The far more sweeping House Bill 707, which also passed committee Monday, would bar the state from using any of its resources to implement any aspect of the Affordable Care Act.
Under the legislation, the University of Georgia would no longer be allowed to operate its health insurance navigator program, which helps people sign up for insurance through the federal Health Insurance Marketplace. UGA received a $1.7 million federal grant to hire navigators last summer.
“This bill is not telling them to send the money back,” the bill’s sponsor, Woodbine Republican Jason Spencer, said. “It would just tell them they can’t continue operations of the navigator program.”
It would also prohibit the state insurance commissioner from investigating any complaints tied to any provision of the Affordable Care Act.
“I have a major problem with that,” said Rep. Roger Bruce, D-Atlanta, who serves on the committee and opposes HB 707. “You are entitled to be protected under those laws,” whether they’re federal or state.
Both bills now head to the House Rules Committee.
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