ATLANTA – State Representative Alex Atwood (R-Brunswick) commented today on Governor Nathan Deal signing into law House Bill 1166, legislation that provides parents with an additional voluntary option for ensuring their children receive health insurance coverage. Sponsored by Rep. Atwood, HB 1166 passed the General Assembly with broad, bipartisan support during this year’s legislative session, receiving a vote of 161 to 1 in the House and a vote of 42 to 2 in the Senate.
“I am truly grateful to Governor Deal for his support,” said Rep. Atwood. “We now have a voluntary, low-cost insurance option available to hard-working Georgians that will allow them to protect their children. I also want to thank our team of doctors, Voices for Georgia’s Children, Georgians for a Healthy Future, and the American Diabetes Association, who helped me push this legislation through. I particularly wish to thank the young law students of Georgia State University who assisted me in drafting this legislation. It was truly a team approach that worked.”
According to Georgians for a Healthy Future, over 244,000 children are currently uninsured. These are typically children whose parents are not offered dependent coverage through work and have an income level above the maximum allowed for Medicaid or PeachCare for Kids. Historically, child-only health insurance plans were available in Georgia for these individuals. However, this changed after President Obama signed the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) into law. Due to the PPACA, insurance carriers in Georgia stopped offering child-only plans because they feared that the federal law’s guaranteed issue requirement would place them at risk of “gaming,” a practice where consumers wait until they need insurance to purchase it.
HB 1166 addresses the issue of “gaming” by establishing an open enrollment period and defining qualifying events, outside of which carriers would not have to sell the plans. This measure thus alleviates the fears of insurance providers, while ensuring that children in Georgia are not completely denied access to health insurance. The bill has the support of the American Diabetes Association, Georgians for a Healthy Future, insurance carriers, and physicians throughout the state.
For more information on HB 1166, please click here.
Representative Alex Atwood represents the citizens of District 179, which includes portions of Glynn County. He was elected into the House of Representatives in 2010, and currently serves on the Information and Audits, Insurance, and Judiciary Non-Civil committees.
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