Georgia hearing spotlights fight over 'phantom damages' and medical-billing language in Senate Bill 68

A Georgia House subcommittee heard hours of testimony for and against Section 7 of Senate Bill 68 on medical-billing disclosure and so-called "phantom damages," with hospitals, physicians and plaintiff attorneys warning the change would reduce access to care while business groups and insurers said it would curb inflated awards.

The bill’s medical-billing language would let juries see the amounts billed and the amounts actually paid or payable, supporters said. Opponents said that change would let tort defendants and juries treat the contractual discounts purchasers secure through insurance as the plaintiff’s true loss.

Why it matters: Section 7 would alter long-standing evidentiary practice about collateral-source information — what juries can learn about insurance payments or contractual write-downs. Witnesses said the change could shift settlement leverage, affect hospitals’ recovery, and influence whether specialists accept certain patients.

Providers and hospitals argued the current practice lets injured patients secure care and pursue recovery. Gordon Terry, chief executive officer of Integrity Spine and Orthopedics, warned of what he said were real-world consequences seen in Florida after similar changes. "You can't limit physicians on what they get paid," Terry said, urging the committee to "strike lines 359 through 375 in its entirety." He said limiting what providers receive in personal-injury cases led…