§ 9-2-21.Parties to actions for torts; notice to Department of Community Health for a party who has received medical assistance benefits

Tort law protects legal rights, so this section ties standing to sue back to whoever held the right that got hurt. In most cases, the action belongs to the person whose legal right was affected. When the injury is to property rather than a person, the right to sue belongs to whoever held the legal interest in that property at the time of the injury, or to that person’s assignee.

On the defense side, the person who committed the injury is the proper defendant, whether they acted alone, through a servant, or through an agent working for them. That covers both direct wrongdoers and employers whose employees or agents caused the harm in the course of their work.

Subsection (c) adds a notice requirement tied to Georgia’s medical assistance program. If the injured person received medical assistance benefits under Chapter 4 of Title 49 (the state’s Medicaid program), and the representative or attorney handling the claim knows about those benefits, that representative or attorney has to notify the Department of Community Health before starting recovery efforts — mailing the notice is enough. Notice is not, however, a condition the plaintiff has to satisfy before filing a tort suit; the two requirements run on separate tracks.