In a party line vote, Georgia’s nine Republican U.S. Representatives voted to gut health care protections for women and their families, while the state’s four Democrats voted against Trump’s American Health Care Act. The AHCA would be a disaster for the 2.1 million women of reproductive age in this state. Trump’s alternative to the ACA,… [Read More]
Deal to “explore” health care changes
Governor Deal said Monday that Georgia will start exploring health care changes. Deal, who did not support the Republican alternative to Obamacare, appears to be interested in making changes specifically to Medicaid. Deal said there are limits to what Georgia can request, “as long as mandates under the basic Obamacare legislation stand in place.” But… [Read More]
What if Georgia policymakers cared about health care?
Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle is taking the lead on health care reforms, creating the Health Care Reform Task Force, which had its first public meeting last week. Hundreds of thousands of Georgians stand to lose their health care or face higher costs to stay insured. Cagle has made it clear he plans to take “a… [Read More]
Birth control and the repeal of the ACA
Here’s a fun fact for you: birth control helps people prevent unplanned pregnancies. Shocking right? Early Thursday morning, the Senate took the first steps to repeal the Affordable Care Act, often called Obamacare. One of the amazing benefits of the ACA, has been no-copay birth control. Birth control comes in a lot of forms: hormonal… [Read More]
Georgia’s health care strategy: wait and see while the hot mess unfolds
Health care is going to be a hot mess come the new year. Unfortunately, women, transgender folks, people of color and rural communities are going to be the first to feel the pinch of many impending changes. And the potential “solutions” from Republicans at both a state and national level have not been promising. Republicans in… [Read More]
Anti-science Trump pick will be a disaster for U.S. health care
Unfortunately, but not quite unsurprisingly, Trump has nominated U.S. Rep. Tom Price to oversee the health and essential human services for all Americans. However, if Georgia’s health and human services is any kind of indication of what will be coming, it will be disastrous. Price has been behind efforts to dismantle Obamacare pretty much since… [Read More]
Ga. Republican pushes to dismantle Affordable Care Act
Georgia Congressman Tom Price has been fighting against the Affordable Care Act since its inception. Now that Republicans dominate the Senate, he’s working on plans to undo the law. According to the AJC, “As chairman of the House Budget Committee, Price will be in charge of authoring and shepherding a special type of legislation that… [Read More]
Louisiana expands Medicaid, will GA keep saying no?
Georgia’s efforts to block Medicaid expansion just got a little bit harder, following the successful expansion of Medicaid in Louisiana this summer. Conservative leadership in this state has cited cost and concerns that the federal government will back out of its commitment to fund 90 percent of the cost of Medicaid expansion. This would, the argument goes, leave… [Read More]
Are Republicans Changing Their Tune on Medicaid?
The day we thought would never come might actually happen. Georgia’s Republican legislators are mulling over the idea of taking federal money to insure the hundreds of thousands of Georgians they left high and dry when they decided not to expand Medicaid. State Sen. Renee Unterman (R-Buford), the same woman who wants to fund fake women’s… [Read More]