Gov. Sonny Perdue was in Eatonton on Tuesday afternoon to sign House Bill No. 1234 into law outside Putnam General Hospital.

The bill, which created the “Medicaid Care Management Organizations Act,” will establish new guidelines for Care Management Organizations, or CMOs, that have patients with Medicaid or Peachcare and contract with the Georgia Department of Community Health.

“The new legislation will change the CMO process to reflect basic common sense along with good government and good policy. I want to ensure our CMOS are saving providers for the right services rendered and the right decisions made,” Perdue said.

The bill was initially introduced by Rep. Mickey Channell of the 116th District in February and was passed by the House in March.

In order to have a bill passed, it requires at least 91 votes in the House and 29 votes in the Senate before it can become law, according to Channell.

House bill No. 1234 entered the Senate, was passed on April 4 and sent to the governor’s desk April 15.

“This session we have worked on major health care legislation. This was truly a collaborative effort and the provider community is pretty much unanimously behind this,” Channell said as he spoke to a large crowd outside Putnam General on Tuesday. “This bill will help to streamline and manage the cost of healthcare [in Georgia].”

Locally, it means hospitals like Putnam General and even Milledgeville’s Oconee Regional Medical Center could establish a better relationship with patients under a Medicare system and allow hospitals affected by the bill to better understand a patient’s status when it comes to a Medicare claim.

Darrell Oglesby is administrator of Putnam General Hospital and had been following House Bill No. 1234 as it progressed through the Georgia Legislature.

“We have a very good reputation in our community, and we have a reputation of being the hospital of choice. It’s an honor to have Gov. Perdue here today to sign this bill,” Oglesby said.

To set the stage closer to home and to provide an example of the changes necessary in the current system of CMOs and health care claims in Georgia, Oglesby cited the case of a young child who had come through Putnam General’s emergency room that had been struck by a car.

“We had a child here that had been hit by a car, and the provider did not consider it as an emergent visit. The provider only paid $50 for expenses associated with the child’s health care,” Oglesby said.

Putnam County Commissioners were on hand as part of Tuesday’s crowd and closely watched as Perdue signed the legislation that could mean additional revenue and community communication to the hospital in the county that they had sworn to serve.

“Obviously it will mean better reimbursement from our insurance companies. Health care is on a ragged edge, so anything that is good for the hospital will be good for all the city, the county and the state,” Putnam County District 4 Commissioner Billy Webster said. “Anything that is being done to benefit and create affordable health care is a good thing. To me, this is more than just symbolic. For Gov. Perdue to be here is also a real credit to this hospital and the way it is being managed in the community.”

District 2 Commissioner Janie B. Reid has heard from the voters in her district on many issues — health care included — as rates have risen and the number of visits to emergency rooms such as that of Putnam General’s have increased.

“I think it’s a good thing and am pleased that he [Perdue] chose Putnam County to sign the bill,” Reid said. “I think that this will serve the medical community well and can only benefit the city of Eatonton and Putnam County.”

Though it may be difficult to understand all the legal terms and provisions associated with the bill, Earl Rogers, senior vice president of the Georgia Hospital Association, believes that even those who do not fully understand the impact of House Bill No. 1234 will eventually be able to see the benefits it will provide.

“I think it’s a terrific piece of legislation. Rep. Channel spent untold hours to provide a product that will bring about change in Medicaid. With this legislation Medicaid patients, the work these hospitals do for Medicaid patients, they will be reimbursed properly. Before this bill they weren’t being reimbursed. As the governor called it, it ‘rebalances’ the system,” Rogers said.

Though the test of time will be the final judge on the full effects of this particular piece of legislation, if the confidence shown in the words of Perdue are any indication, those effects won’t take long to appear.

“We have come a long way, and this is still an evolutionary process for getting it right. That is our goal for health care. We want to ensure that our CMOs and our health care providers work together as smoothly as possible without one having leverage over the other that is not working. That means Georgia patients across the state are getting the best possible health care and the best possible pricing for Georgia taxpayers,” Perdue said.