UpdatedThu, May 6, 2021 at 5:02 pm ET
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Kemp signed House Bill 509 into law Thursday, which requires insurers to provide at least one reasonably-priced comprehensive major medical health insurance policy, and cannot exclude, limit, deny or delay coverage based on preexisting conditions. (Sean Rayford/Getty Images)
ATLANTA, GA Gov. Brian Kemp made it illegal for health insurers to completely deny coverage to Georgians with preexisting medical conditions.
Kemp signed House Bill 509 into law Thursday, which requires insurers to provide at least one reasonably-priced comprehensive major medical health insurance policy that does not exclude, limit, deny or delay coverage in this specific policy based on one or more preexisting conditions.
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The legislation was introduced last year as a top priority of House Speaker David Ralston, R-Blue Ridge. It appeared headed toward passage before the coronavirus pandemic forced the General Assembly into a three-month hiatus.
But when lawmakers returned to the Gold Dome in June of last year to finish the 2020 legislative session, the Senate stripped paid parental leave from the bill and substituted a measure reducing lawmakersâ salaries. The House refused to support the change, and the bill was forced to wait until this year.
ATLANTA State employees and teachers will be able to take up to three weeks of paid parental leave under legislation Gov. Brian Kemp signed into law Wednesday.
The bill, which sailed through the Georgia Senate unanimously and cleared the state House of Representatives 153-8, will benefit about 246,000 state workers and teachers. It will apply to parents following the birth of a child of their own, an adopted child or a foster-care placement.
“By ensuring state employees can take paid parental time off … we are sending a strong, clear signal that Georgia values every business, company and job creator,” Kemp said during a signing ceremony at the state Capitol.
Pandemic Provokes City vs. State Conflicts The coronavirus pandemic and the 2020 elections have increased the number of states preempting local laws and ordinances, especially where cities and states were run by different political parties. Elaine S. Povich, Stateline | April 20, 2021 | Analysis
Late last year, commissioners in Athens-Clarke County, Georgia, proposed cutting police funding in half over the next decade and redirecting the money to mental health and social services. The bill didn’t pass, but the idea alone so outraged the Georgia legislature that lawmakers decreed it would not happen on their watch.
The legislature passed a bill that would restrict similar measures in Athens or any other Georgia county or city. The bill now goes to Gov. Brian Kemp, a Republican, who has indicated he favors it.
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