O.C.G.A. § 31-8-37 (2019)
Compliance with this article contingent upon appropriation
On and after July 1, 1987, hospitals shall not be required to comply with the provisions of this article unless the General Assembly appropriates funds in an amount determined as the state-wide cost of care for nonresident indigent patients as provided for in Code Section 31-8-36.
History
Code 1981, § 31-8-37, enacted by Ga. L. 1987, p. 1494, § 3.
ARTICLE 2A HOSPITAL CARE FOR PREGNANT WOMEN
Annotations
Cross references. - Newborn Baby and Mother Protection Act, § 33-24-58.
Administrative rules and regulations. - Emergency medical services to pregnant women, Official Compilation of the Rules and Regulations of the State of Georgia, Department of Human Services,
Family and Children Services, Chapter
Law reviews. - For article, ‘‘State of Emergency: Why Georgia’s Standard of Care in Emergency Rooms is Harmful to Your Health,’’ see 45 Ga. L. Rev. 275 (2010).
JUDICIAL DECISIONS Constitutionality of article. - An attack on O.C.G.A. Art. 2A, Ch. 8, T. 31, as special legislation fails since the statute operates statewide and is applicable to all hospitals authorized to operate as provided in the statute. Terrell County v. Albany/Dougherty Hosp. Auth., 256 Ga. 627, 352 S.E.2d 378 (1987). When a county argued that O.C.G.A. Art. 2A, Ch. 8, T. 31 was violative of Ga. Const. 1983, Art. IX, Sec. II, Para. III (b)(1), which prohibits a county from exercising certain enumerated powers inside the boundaries of any municipality or
other county except by contract with the entity affected, since the county had no contract with the political subdivision within which a hospital seeking reimbursement under O.C.G.A. § 31-8-43(c) was located, it could not constitutionally pay the claims of the hospital, it was held that the words ‘‘unless otherwise provided by law,’’ prefacing the constitutional prohibition apply to a general law such as O.C.G.A. § 31-8-43. Terrell County v. Albany/Dougherty Hosp. Auth., 256 Ga. 627, 352 S.E.2d 378 (1987).