ATLANTA – The Georgia House of Representatives today passed House Bill 147 by a vote of 150 to 20, showing broad bi-partisan support for the legislation. Introduced by freshman State Representative Ben Watson (R-Savannah), the bill would allow Georgians to learn whether their physicians carry malpractice insurance by simply checking the Georgia Composite Medical Board information website.
“The patient has a right to know if a physician carries malpractice insurance,” said Rep. Watson. “This is part of how a patient can judge a physician. Though many patients assume all doctors carry malpractice insurance, this assumption is incorrect and has caused problems in parts of the state. As a doctor, I do not want to see this continue or spread to other parts of Georgia, including Savannah.”
Under HB 147 malpractice insurance coverage would be made available to the public by requiring the Georgia Composite Medical Board to add the information to its website. Specifically, the malpractice coverage information would be added to a section of the website listing other demographic and professional information already available to the public.
With today’s passage of HB 147, Rep. Watson became one of only a few representatives to successfully shepherd legislation through the House in just his first three months in office.
Rep. Watson earned his medical degree from the Medical College of Georgia in 1985 and now practices internal medicine with a specialty in geriatrics in Savannah, Georgia.
Now that HB 147 has passed the House, it will be sent to the Senate for consideration. For more information on HB 147, please click here.
For more information on the Georgia Composite Medical Board, please click here.
Representative Ben Watson represents the citizens of District 163, which includes portions of Chatham County. He was elected into the House of Representatives in 2010, and currently serves on the Higher Education, Health & Human Services, and the Science & Technology committees.
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