Laws vary from state to state, but in some states a health insurance carrier, health maintenance organization, or other managed care entity for a health care plan has the duty to exercise ordinary care when making health care treatment decisions and is liable for damages for harm to an insured or enrollee proximately caused by its failure to exercise such ordinary care.

This liability may be created by a specific state statute or by the state's common law (court opinions or case law) under a negligence theory for breach of the standard of care (reasonableness).

In Georgia, health insurance carriers, health maintenance organizations (HMOs), and other managed care entities are expected to exercise ordinary care when making healthcare treatment decisions. The Georgia Supreme Court recognized in 2000 that these entities owe a duty of care to their enrollees, and if they fail to exercise such care, they can be held liable for damages. This was established in the case of McCall v. Allstate Insurance Co., where the court held that a managed care entity could be found negligent if its decisions regarding healthcare services resulted in harm to the insured. This means that if a managed care entity's failure to exercise ordinary care proximately causes harm to an insured or enrollee, the entity can be held liable under Georgia's negligence laws. The liability is not derived from a specific state statute in Georgia but rather from the state's common law, which includes court opinions and case law.