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House approves bill requiring broader access to clinical and psychiatric records for maternal mortality reviews
Summary
The Georgia House passed HB 89 to require certain health-care providers, facilities and pharmacies to provide psychiatric and clinical records to the state maternal mortality review process; lawmakers debated data access, committee continuity and rural impacts.
The Georgia House passed House Bill 89 on March 3, a measure that amends state law to allow the maternal mortality review committee (MMRC) access to psychiatric and other clinical records when reviewing pregnancy-related deaths.
Representative Sharon Cooper presented the committee substitute, saying the bill establishes parameters for perinatal regional centers, clarifies which entities perform autopsies in maternal death cases, and addresses longstanding difficulty obtaining psychiatric records for review. Cooper said the records are essential to determining cause and contributing factors.
Representative Karen Mathiak and others spoke in favor; Representative Cannon emphasized racial and rural disparities in maternal outcomes and praised the bill’s inclusion of transportation and social determinants of health. Several lawmakers noted the MMRC’s recent reconstitution: the prior committee had been disbanded and a new MMRC formed, which a member of leadership said was done so confidentially after an internal issue.
During floor debate Representative Cannon and others urged continued resourcing and timely reporting from the Department of Public Health. Some members requested safeguards and continuity for the MMRC; an amendment to ensure the MMRC could never be left without members was discussed but not included in the substitute.
The House ordered the previous question and adopted the committee substitute before voting. The clerk recorded the final vote as 68 yeas and 7 nays; the bill passed and will move to the Senate.
Supporters said the bill will give the MMRC a fuller clinical record to improve prevention; supporters also urged the administration to maintain a functioning committee and to appoint subject-matter experts.
