SB 500 expands Georgia’s existing Behavioral Health Care Workforce Data Base beyond behavioral health providers to include licensed health care professionals more broadly. The bill renames the database the Health Care Workforce Data Base and updates definitions so that “health care professional” replaces “behavioral health care provider” in key provisions. It keeps the focus on collecting and analyzing minimum data set surveys, but broadens the scope of who is covered by the reporting and data collection system.
The bill directs the Georgia Board of Health Care Workforce to continue creating and maintaining the database, enter into agreements to house and share workforce information, seek outside funding, and maintain an online dashboard on its website. It also requires the board to establish a minimum data set survey used by licensing boards to collect demographic and other information from licensed professionals. The bill specifically updates the data elements to include whether a professional accepts Medicaid and Medicare, along with types of insurance accepted.
In practical terms, SB 500 affects the Georgia Board of Health Care Workforce and a wide range of licensing boards, including boards for nursing, medicine, counseling, psychology, pharmacy, dentistry, chiropractic, optometry, occupational therapy, physical therapy, speech-language pathology and audiology, podiatry, dietetics, public health, and behavior analysis. By broadening the database, the bill is intended to improve state-level visibility into the health care workforce and support planning, policy development, and public access to workforce information.
The overall sentiment around the bill appears strongly favorable. It passed the Senate 43-3, the House 162-1, and then received Senate agreement to the House substitute 43-2, indicating broad bipartisan support. No committee transcript objections are available, and the vote margins suggest the bill was viewed as a practical workforce-data measure rather than a controversial policy change.
There is little visible contention in the available record. Any potential points of debate would likely center on the expanded reporting burden for licensed professionals and licensing boards, the scope of data collected, and privacy or administrative concerns associated with maintaining a public-facing workforce dashboard. However, the recorded votes show that such concerns did not generate significant opposition.
SB 500 amends Chapter 10 of Title 49 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, specifically Code Section 49-10-5, to broaden the state’s behavioral health workforce data system into a statewide health care workforce database. It changes statutory terminology, expands the list of covered licensing boards and professionals, and requires the Georgia Board of Health Care Workforce to collect, maintain, and publish workforce data through an online dashboard. The bill also updates the required survey data to include insurance participation, including Medicaid and Medicare acceptance, which may affect reporting obligations for licensed health care professionals and the boards that regulate them.
The bill appears to have enjoyed broad bipartisan support and was not especially controversial in the available record. It passed both chambers by large margins, including a near-unanimous House vote, and the Senate later agreed to the House substitute with only two dissenting votes. That voting pattern suggests lawmakers generally viewed the measure as a useful workforce-planning and data-collection bill.
No committee testimony or recorded debate is available, so there is no direct evidence of substantive opposition in the materials provided. The most plausible areas of concern would be the expansion of data collection to a wider set of licensed professionals, the administrative burden on licensing boards and practitioners, and potential privacy or data-management issues tied to a public dashboard. Even so, the strong vote totals indicate that any such concerns were limited or resolved during the legislative process.