On Wednesday, March 27, Governor Brian Kemp signed the Patients First Act, approving and authorizing the state of Georgia to “submit a waiver request” to the Department of Health and Human Services Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

The waiver, if approved, would allow Georgia as a state more flexibility to expand Medicaid in legislatively conservative ways.

The legislation “paves the way for state leaders to craft innovative flexibility options within Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act to lower healthcare premiums, enhance accessibility, and ensure quality outcomes in every part of our state,” according to Kemp.

While the bill itself was short, the effects of the bill on Georgia law has the potential to be large, with the final portion of the bill, Section 4-2, reading as “All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.”