GA Code § 33-46-3 (2021)
2021 Georgia Code|Title 33 - Insurance|Chapter 46 - (Effective January 1, 2022.) Certification of Private Review Agents|Article 1 - General Provisions|§ 33-46-3. (Effective January 1, 2022.) Legislative Purposes and Intent

  The purpose of this chapter is to promote the delivery of quality healthcare in Georgia. Furthermore, it is to foster the delivery of such care in a cost-effective manner through greater coordination between healthcare providers, claim administrators, insurers, employers, patients, private review agents, and utilization review entities; to improve communication and knowledge of healthcare benefits among all parties; to protect patients, claim administrators, insurers, private review agents, employers, and healthcare providers by ensuring that utilization review activities are based upon accepted standards of treatment and patient care; to ensure that such treatment is accessible and done in a timely and effective manner; and to ensure that private review agents and utilization review entities maintain confidentiality of information obtained in the course of utilization review.   In order to carry out the intent and purposes of this chapter, it is declared to be the policy of this chapter to protect Georgia residents by imposing minimum standards on private review agents and utilization review entities who engage in utilization review with respect to healthcare services provided in Georgia, such standards to include regulations concerning certification of private review agents and utilization review entities, disclosure of utilization review standards and appeal procedures, minimum qualifications for utilization review personnel, minimum standards governing accessibility of utilization review, and such other standards, requirements, and rules or regulations promulgated by the Commissioner which are not inconsistent with the foregoing. Notwithstanding the foregoing, it is neither the policy nor the intent of the General Assembly to regulate the terms of self-insured employee welfare benefit plans as defined in Section 31(I) of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended, and therefore any regulations promulgated pursuant to this chapter shall relate only to persons subject to this chapter.     (Code 1981, §33-46-1, enacted by Ga. L. 1990, p. 1088, § 1; Ga. L. 1996, p. 6, § 33; Code 1981, §33-46-3, as redesignated by Ga. L. 2021, p. 629, § 2/SB 80.)    The 2021 amendment,  effective January 1, 2022, redesignated former Code Section 33-46-1 as this Code section; substituted "healthcare" for "health care" in four places in subsection (a) and once in subsection (b); in subsection (a), substituted "claim administrators, insurers, employers, patients, private review agents, and utilization review entities" for "claims administrators, payors, employers, patients, and private review agents" and "claim administrators, insurers" for "claims administrators, payors"; and inserted "and utilization review entities" at the end of subsection (a) and twice in the first sentence of subsection (b).   Editor's notes.   - Ga. L. 2021, p. 629, § 2/SB 80, effective January 1, 2022, redesignated former Code Section 33-46-3 as present Code Section 33-46-5.