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Georgia Insurance Commissioner: It’s your fault.

Georgia Insurance Commissioner Ralph Hudgens wants anyone suffering from diabetes, asthma, cancer, genetic disorders, and other pre-existing medical conditions to know something: it’s your fault.

His view of pre-existing conditions was captured on video while he spoke to the Republican Women’s Club in Evans:

But say you’re going along and you have a wreck. And it’s your fault. Well, a pre-existing condition would be you then calling up your insurance agent and saying, ‘I would like to get collision insurance coverage on my car.’ And your insurance agent says, ‘Well, you never had that before. Why would you want it now?’ And you say, ‘Well, I just had a wreck, it was my fault and I want the insurance company to pay to repair my car.’ And that’s the exact same thing on pre-existing insurance.

Commissioner Hudgens thinks insurance companies that make billions in profits every year should be allowed to refuse coverage to you and your family if you get sick.

He thinks it is more important for him to protect his allies in the insurance industry than to stand up for Georgia families.

This is a ridiculous position.

But it’s a position that is completely consistent with Gov. Nathan Deal and Commissioner Hudgens’ campaign to prevent Georgians from benefitting from the Affordable Care Act.

First, they refused to set up a health insurance marketplace managed by Georgians for Georgians.

Then, Gov. Deal “just said no” to billions in federal dollars that would have made health insurance affordable for hundreds of thousands of Georgians.

Georgians are still paying into the system but the benefits are going to other states.

Thanks to Gov. Deal, the door to the doctor’s office is locked for more than 650,000 Georgians. And hospitals are straining to make up for the lost revenue.

Three hospitals in rural Georgia have closed their doors, and others are on the brink of closure, leaving large parts of the state under-served.

But Gov. Deal couldn’t care less.

He’s been too busy raking in half a million dollars in contributions from the health care industry through his Super PAC.

Gov. Deal and Commissioner Hudgens will find a way to blame Georgia families when they can’t see a doctor, or when the nearest hospital is too far away to make a difference in an emergency.

But we know better.

Georgia families deserve elected officials who will fight for them instead of blaming them for getting sick.

Today, Gov. Deal and Commissioner Hudgens should stand up for Georgia families.

They should put the health of Georgians ahead of fundraising.

They should stop trying to score cheap political points with their party’s radical right wing and get busy fixing the mess they’ve made of Georgia’s healthcare system.

Right now, Gov. Deal could open the door to the doctor’s office for hundreds of thousands of Georgians and help save Georgia hospitals from closure.

He could build a health exchange by Georgians for Georgians.

All he has to do is say “yes.”

And if he doesn’t?

It’s his fault.

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