How Do You Prove Future Medical Expenses in a Georgia Injury Case?
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With evidence of the care the injury will require and of its reasonable value, and for claims arising on or after April 21, 2025, under a new statute. O.C.G.A. § 51-12-1.1, added by Senate Bill 68, limits special damages for medical and healthcare expenses to “the reasonable value of medically necessary care, treatment, or services”, lets the jury hear both the amounts charged and the amounts insurance would actually pay for “past, present, or future” expenses, and preserves each side’s right to challenge “projected future expenses”.
What § 51-12-1.1 changes for future care
| Subsection | Rule |
|---|---|
| (a) | Special damages for medical and healthcare expenses "shall be recoverable only as provided in this Code section" |
| (b) | Limited to "the reasonable value of medically necessary care, treatment, or services", as determined by the trier of fact |
| (c) | If the plaintiff has any public or private health insurance, including governmental workers' compensation benefits, the evidence of reasonable value "shall include both the amounts charged for past, present, or future medical and healthcare expenses and the amounts actually necessary to satisfy such charges pursuant to the insurance contract or the applicable governmental workers' compensation program", whether or not the insurance has been or will be used |
| (f) | Either side may present evidence challenging the reasonableness of medical expenses, "whether incurred or projected future expenses", or the medical necessity of any treatment |
When the new rule applies
Senate Bill 68 took effect on approval by the Governor; the 2025 legislative summary records the date as April 21, 2025. Section 9(b) states the General Assembly’s intent that the provisions other than Sections 6 and 7 apply “to causes of action pending on the effective date of this Act, unless such application would be unconstitutional”. Section 7, which enacted § 51-12-1.1, is one of the two exceptions: it applies “only with respect to causes of action arising on or after the effective date of this Act”, and earlier claims are governed by prior law. So for a claim that arose before April 21, 2025, the medical-expense rules of § 51-12-1.1 do not apply.
Building the proof of future care
For a claim governed by the new statute, the proof has two parts, both measured by § 51-12-1.1(b):
- Medical necessity. Testimony from a treating physician or other medical expert that the future surgery, therapy, medication, equipment, or care will be needed because of this injury, and over what period.
- Reasonable value. Evidence of what that care will cost. Where you have health insurance, § 51-12-1.1(c) puts before the jury both the provider’s charges and what would actually satisfy those charges under the insurance contract, for future care as well as past care.
Because subsection (f) lets the defense challenge “projected future expenses”, each element of a life care plan or cost projection can be tested on both necessity and price. An award for care that will be paid years from now can also be reduced to present value: under O.C.G.A. § 51-12-13(a), the trier of fact “may reduce the same to the present value based on a discount rate of 5 percent or any other discount rate as the trier of fact may deem appropriate”, and subsection (b) bars using the statute to introduce “the cost of any specific private investment product, including, but not limited to, an annuity”.
How health insurance and letters of protection fit in
How health insurance evidence works after the reform is explained in how health insurance affects medical damages after the 2025 reform. Treatment provided under a letter of protection triggers additional discovery under § 51-12-1.1(d); see letters of protection and the 2025 law.
Sources
- Senate Bill 68 (2025), as passed, LC 49 2362S, §§ 7, 9.
- Georgia General Assembly, 2025 Summary of General Statutes Enacted, entry for Act 9 (SB 68).
- O.C.G.A. § 51-12-13 (text as published in October 2016 on a mirror site; no amendment recorded in the 2022 to 2026 legislative summaries).
General information about Georgia law as of October 2026. It is not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship.