Does Georgia Have Good Healthcare?

Does Georgia Have Good Healthcare
Breaking down the findings from America’s Health Rankings 2022 Annual Report – The latest findings highlight some of the greatest health challenges and strengths across the nation, with racial and ethnic disparities coming into sharp focus.

What is the health care problem in Georgia?

Georgia’s troubled health care system By Jack Bernard and Dr. Doug Skelton The results are in for all of America to see, and Georgia has finally made it,, to very near the bottom of the pile. Shameful, but true. Georgia has a booming economy and is one of the fastest-growing states in the nation. Possibly, this is the reason that news of its poor health care system hit the national news. Bernard Surprisingly, our health care disaster did not create much of a stir locally (other than in GHN), which is why we decided to write this column. We all love our state, but let’s not continue to deceive ourselves. We can improve, but only by acknowledging our faults.

And a poor health care system is on the top of the list. Why is our system such a wreck? In regard to income, Georgia is in the middle of the pack, with a median income of $61,980. But our cost of living is a lot less than in places like New York and California that have higher incomes. However, our poverty rate is 13.3 percent, the 14th-highest in America, while the national rate is 10.5 percent.

Fifty years ago, it was at 18 percent for the region. So there has been some improvement. But not nearly enough given the economic growth in our state. And the status of black Georgians is still dismal, as discussed below. Let’s get into specifics. One source lists Georgia’s health care as the second-worst in the U.S., with only Texas being worse.

We have the third-highest rate of uninsured nationally. Our infant mortality and maternal mortality rates are extremely high, as is our preventable hospitalization rate compared to other states and the national average. And despite our progress economically, we have far fewer primary care doctors (we rank 40th) and mental health providers (we rank 45th).

You want proof? Try to find psychiatrists who take Medicare south of the Atlanta perimeter. Another source, the respected Commonwealth Fund, analyzed health care in all states. Overall, we were the sixth-worst in the nation. And key measures like hospital 30-day mortality and preventable hospitalizations were getting worse versus prior years.

On the crucial measures of access and affordability, we were the third-worst.
Demographically, there was one area that was glaringly different from national figures.
Whereas the national rate of African-American poverty is 12 percent, in Georgia it is 31 percent,
Nearly triple.
That’s why we are ranked fourth-worst nationally regarding the health disparity among racial groups.

The Commonwealth Fund also used a measurement technique common in industry, called “best practices.” For example, if Georgia matched the best state in the Southeast, we would have 820,359 fewer uninsured plus 391,983 fewer adults who “skipped care because of its cost.” Skelton Despite our deficits, much has been accomplished over the last several decades. We now have five medical schools, with two focused on producing primary care physicians. There are public health departments in all of Georgia’s 159 counties, high-quality hospitals for metro areas, plus a Medicaid program covering 2 million people in need.

However, the situation with the Affordable Care Act’s Medicaid expansion option highlights the problem that we believe drives the data above. If exercised in 2010, the expansion option would have provided medical care for most of our uninsured population, and with 100 percent federal funding for three years and 90 percent thereafter.

No good reason for declining the option exists. Georgia’s decision to do so simply left neglected the poorest of the poor, as has been the unofficial state policy forever. And the “waiver” suggested to the feds by Gov. Brian Kemp wouldn’t do much to increase coverage.

Can the situation in Georgia be changed? Of course it can. But not unless our state and local governments are willing to construct a strategic plan to directly address the needs of our lower-income citizens. Jack Bernard, former Georgia Director of Health Planning, is a retired senior vice president with a national health care corporation and a Fayette County Board of Health member.

Dr. Doug Skelton is the former Dean of the Mercer School of Medicine and current Chancellor of Trinity Medical Sciences University. : Georgia’s troubled health care system

Does Georgia have good hospitals?

U.S. News evaluated 172 hospitals in Georgia. Thirteen meet high U.S. News standards and are ranked in the state.U.S. News also ranked hospitals in the Atlanta and Augusta metro areas. The number 1 hospital in Georgia is Emory University Hospital.

What is the healthcare like in Georgia country?

How the Georgia Healthcare System Works for Expats? – Since 2013, the Georgian government has embraced a new publicly financed universal healthcare program that offers healthcare to the entire population. This program offers various benefits including primary and secondary care services and some essential medicines.

Is healthcare free in Georgia?

Medicaid provides access to free and low-cost medical care. State residents eligible for Medicaid support (sometimes referred to as Medical Assistance) include pregnant women, children, retirees age 65 and older, and people who are legally blind or disabled.

Why are hospitals closing in Georgia?

Atlanta, Georgia CNN — A version of this story appeared in CNN’s Race Deconstructed newsletter. To get it in your inbox every week, sign up for free here, For the past four years, Angelina Alford was able to walk just a couple blocks to her neighborhood hospital whenever she needed emergency health care.

Alford, 65, said that she suffers from asthma, diabetes and high blood pressure, and that there were times when the Atlanta Medical Center’s (AMC) downtown hospital, formerly known as Georgia Baptist Hospital, would keep her overnight for monitoring.
However, with the closure of AMC’s downtown location last week – AMC South, the sister location in East Point, shut down in May – Alford worries that traveling to another hospital in Atlanta traffic could be a matter of life and death.

She doesn’t drive, she said, and in consequence must rely on rideshare services or family members to get around. According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the decision to close the hospital came as a shock to staff as well as residents and city leaders,

The newspaper reported the pending closure on August 31.
It’s frustrating, and it’s sad,” Alford told CNN.
And it gives me anxiety, because if I get sick, how am I going to get to the hospital?” Wellstar Health System, which operated both hospitals, insists that the closures were due to shrinking revenue.

“Wellstar has operated AMC since 2016, investing more than $350 million in capital improvements and to support sustained operating losses. That includes $107 million in losses in just the last 12 months, amid decreasing revenue and increasing costs for staff and supplies due to soaring inflation.

The pandemic and the intense financial headwinds straining healthcare organizations right now have only made matters worse at AMC,” the nonprofit said in a statement, But community advocates and health policy experts say that the closures exemplify systemic inequality, and that the two AMC losses will disproportionately burden Black communities and low-income communities.

The closures aren’t unique. They’re part of a much larger pattern of urban hospital closures across the US. (Over the past few decades, rural hospitals also have been disappearing.) Only three years ago, facilities in Chicago, Philadelphia and Washington, DC, shuttered.

Residents in the surrounding poor, predominantly Black communities were left reeling from the losses.
We’ve had three hospital closures in the last year or so, all of them Black neighborhoods,” David Ansell, the senior vice president for community health equity at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, told Kaiser Health News in 2020, adding that choosing to shut down those hospitals was “really criminal” in his mind, “because people will die as a result.” In no time at all, Grady Memorial Hospital, Atlanta’s only remaining Level I trauma center, detected the effects of AMC’s closure.

“We have already seen an influx of patients in our emergency department and an increase in our trauma volumes. However, we have taken several steps to help absorb the increased volume. We have hired former Atlanta Medical Center trauma surgeons and primary care physicians to help meet the growing need at our trauma center and in our neighborhood health centers.

Additional practitioners have been added to Grady’s Walk-In Center and our ER waiting room. We have added 41 new inpatient beds, and more are forthcoming,” Grady Health said in a statement, Georgia Republican Gov. Brian Kemp boosted funding to Grady Health in order to “allow Grady to absorb the impact from AMC’s closure and continue providing quality care to new and existing patients.” In an October open letter to community members, he said that Grady Health would receive more than $130 million in American Rescue Plan funds to add 185 beds to the hospital by the end of 2023.

Nancy Kane, an adjunct professor of management at the Harvard University TH Chan School of Public Health, summarized the precarious state of access to care in Atlanta and beyond the following way. “When a hospital leaves, the whole network starts to collapse,” she told CNN.

“It’s not just the trauma and maternity services. The whole care continuum starts to be affected.” Here’s a closer look at the persistent issue of urban hospital closures: Atlanta-area activists have fought for years to keep urban hospitals open, noting the hardships certain residents would face without these facilities.

Richard Rose, the president of the NAACP’s Atlanta chapter, told CNN that urban hospital closures are an issue of “racial inequality.” State and hospital officials, he said, have failed to provide the resources necessary to save the hospitals that have largely served the city’s Black and low-income residents.

Indeed, the impact of the closures of AMC’s locations in downtown Atlanta and East Point (the two are around 7 miles apart) won’t be evenly distributed. Black residents and low-income residents will most acutely feel the absence of these key providers of community care. Atlanta – the so-called Black Mecca – is 49.8% Black, and East Point is 76.5% Black, according to the most recent data from the US Census Bureau.

Per Wellstar figures cited by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, of the nearly 4,300 emergency room patients the two AMC locations saw in 2019, north of two-thirds (67.3%) were Black, and more than half (51.5%) were Medicaid and Medicare recipients. The closure of AMC downtown has left a hole in the community.

There are at least three major hospitals nearby – Grady, Emory University Hospital Midtown and Piedmont Atlanta Hospital – but patients told CNN about long lines and overcrowding in these emergency rooms since AMC shuttered. Further, some residents, such as Alford, lack transportation to get to the hospitals.

Similarly, the closure of AMC South’s hospital and emergency center has left a number of families in south Fulton County – a cluster of suburbs with a mix of poor, middle-class and upper-middle-class residents – without a full-service hospital less than 7 miles away.

And while Google Maps estimates a 15-minute drive from AMC South to Grady, that commute could be many leagues worse during peak traffic hours in the bustling metropolis.
Rose referred to Kemp’s pledge to fund more beds at Grady as a “Band-Aid fix on an open wound,” and explained that the closures jeopardize the health of residents who live near shuttered facilities.

“If you get shot or have an accident or a heart attack at the wrong time of day, it’s a real problem to get from southwest Atlanta to Grady Memorial Hospital in downtown Atlanta,” Rose said. “It’s an unnecessary struggle.” Kane echoed some of Rose’s sentiments, and painted a similarly sobering picture of access to care in the aftermath of urban hospital closures.

“The most obvious consequence is that if you’re in a low-income neighborhood, the distance to care is going to be greater. And if you don’t have a car, that distance can be a big issue,” she said. Kane added, “It’s been documented in the literature that in emergency cases – if you have a heart attack or a gunshot wound – especially in a low-income neighborhood, you have a higher likelihood of dying, because people can’t get to the next hospital that easily.” She also highlighted that, in the US, race and poverty are associated with health disparities, including uneven access to high-quality doctors and care.

“Diabetes, stroke, high blood pressure: Many things are caused just from poor health-care access and low income and stress,” Kane said. “The demand (for hospitals in communities of color and low-income communities) is higher than in other communities.

So, it’s a double whammy: You’re sicker, and you have worse access.” If the news about AMC seems familiar, it’s because the saga isn’t anomalous.
In recent years, urban hospital closures have afflicted many other parts of the country, too.
For instance, in August 2019, Westlake Hospital in Chicago filed for bankruptcy, paving the way to closure.

Just two months prior, in June, Philadelphia’s Hahnemann University Hospital, which was the chief teaching hospital affiliated with the Drexel University College of Medicine, announced that it’d be shutting its doors for good, And in April of that year, Providence Hospital in Washington, DC, permanently closed,

Westlake, Hahnemann and Providence, much like AMC, largely served Black communities and low-income communities. Alan Sager, a professor of health policy and management at the Boston University School of Public Health who over the course of the past 12 years has documented hospital closures in nearly every major US city, characterized the country’s health-care system as “anarchic.” “That word describes the forces at play: ‘Save some hospitals, close others,'” he told US News & World Report in 2019,

Bonnie Castillo, the executive director of the union National Nurses United, expressed similar sentiments. “Urban hospital closures are more apt to happen in racially segregated communities and especially in African American neighborhoods,” she told US News & World Report.

Castillo underscored that the shutdowns’ effects can be “devastating,” since the residents of these communities rely on hospitals for primary care (and other care) to a degree that White and wealthy Americans don’t. When Providence closed, feelings of distress permeated the surrounding neighborhoods.

“You’re hurting people. You’re really hurting people. You’re messing with people’s lives, and you can’t do that. You really can’t do that,” as Phillip Lee, a lifelong DC resident, told the CNN affiliate WUSA in 2019, Generally, Kane questions claims that shutdowns occur because hospitals are losing money.

Declining revenue isn’t an event that comes from Mars. It comes from under-investment in the facility,” she explained. “That’s part of the problem. It’s not that people say, ‘Let’s not go there anymore.’ It’s that they can’t get in or the services they need aren’t there anymore or the building’s old and so they choose to go elsewhere.” Put another way, revenue decline is an outcome.

“Facilities get years of neglect,” Kane added. “Then, the neglect gets to a point where you can’t maintain the buildings, or the physicians say, ‘We’re not going in there anymore. The elevators don’t work.’ So many things happen that are bad that companies say, ‘We have to close the hospitals.

No one wants to come here anymore.’ Well, no kidding.” Notably, urban hospital closures shine a light on the importance of local control over health systems – on the devastation that can follow when that authority atrophies.
If you look broadly across the country, there are big chains acquiring hospitals.

They might have more than 100 hospitals. The headquarters is in St. Louis. The chains might have hospitals in nine or 10 states. And the chains no longer have a sense of commitment or loyalty to the local community,” Kane said. “And so, if you’re a hospital that has lots of Medicaid patients or lots of uninsured patients, or if you’re a hospital that doesn’t get much government support, you end up looking like a poor performer in a portfolio where no one knows what’s underneath.” In short, because chains aren’t necessarily familiar with the community, they might not have a commitment to it, and state governments aren’t demanding that they pay attention.

Todd Greene, formerly a member of Wellstar’s community board for AMC, can’t help but worry about the recent closures. He explained that they might further chip away at the health outcomes of Black residents, because they relied on primary and specialty care doctors affiliated with shuttered hospitals.

Greene said that several AMC medical offices – including family medicine, neurosurgery and orthopedic practices – must either close or relocate. And some are moving out of the city altogether, to Whiter and wealthier Cobb County. The result: Numerous residents will struggle to secure appointments, because metro Atlanta doesn’t have a robust transit system that can get them to other counties.

How is Georgia’s health care compared to other states?

A new report recently released by a leading Georgia medical university ranks the state among the worst in the nation for health insurance coverage. Georgia ranks 49th in the U.S. for residents without health insurance, according to a report from Augusta University.

The Institute of Public and Preventative Health this month published its second Healthy Georgia report, which compares Georgia to the rest of the Southeast and the country on 24 metrics. On insurance coverage, the Peach State lags the other 11 states in the Southeast by nearly 3 percentage points and the country overall by nearly 5 percentage points.

A major reason, say experts, is because Georgia has not expanded Medicaid. For Georgians under the Federal Poverty Level, the rate of insurance is about 9 percentage points lower than the rest of the Southeast. Those residents in Georgia often end up without insurance because of strict Medicaid requirements.

If residents are not low-income parents, pregnant, aged or disabled, they may not qualify for Medicaid no matter how low their income is — and Affordable Care Act subsidies only apply for those making more than 100% of the Federal Poverty Level. “There is a huge chunk of people that just don’t qualify for any type of affordable health insurance,” said Whitney Grigg, health policy analyst at Georgians for a Healthy Future.

The Healthy Georgians report includes 12 states in the Southeast. Five have expanded Medicaid to cover all residents up to 138% of the federal poverty level. IRA and healthcare: What is in and out of the Inflation Reduction Act for healthcare Georgia Medicaid: Most get left behind with Georgia Medicaid: 270,000 don’t have insurance, expansions stall

Does Tbilisi have good healthcare?

Healthcare in Tbilisi Nowadays, local healthcare is improving, like most things in Tbilisi, and can boast to be of a comparably high standard.

Where is Georgia ranked in healthcare?

Breaking down the findings from America’s Health Rankings 2022 Annual Report – The latest findings highlight some of the greatest health challenges and strengths across the nation, with racial and ethnic disparities coming into sharp focus.

Where does Georgia rank in quality of life?

Quality of Life by State 2023

State	Quality of Life Rank	Healthcare Rank
Georgia	18	43
New Jersey	19	4
Connecticut	20	3
New York	21	7

What is the best country for healthcare?

Best Healthcare in the World 2023

Country	LPI 2020 Ranking	LPI 2019 Ranking
Denmark	1	2
Norway	2	1
Switzerland	3	3
Sweden	4	4

Does Tbilisi have free healthcare?

Major health care reforms and policy measures –

Before 1995 – Semashko model, completely state-funded services
1995-2003 – Introduction of social health insurance, mandatory payroll taxes for health and creation of the state health fund (SHF)
1999 – National Health Policy developed
1999 – MoH and Ministry of Social Affairs merged into MoLHSA
2007 – State Hospital Development Master Plan, envisioning a complete change of course in hospital sector based on privatization approved by the Government; Almost of hospitals sold to the private sector
2007-2014 – Public Funds given to private insurance companies for the administration of the state health insurance program for the target population (people under poverty line, teachers act.)
2009-2010 – Introduction of state voluntary health insurance coverage program
2012-2014 – Establishment of state health insurance program for pensioners, children under 5, Students, disability persons
2013 – Introduction of Universal health Care program (Phase I-II)
2014 – Introduction of prescription system
2015 – Introduction of Hepatitis C elimination program
2015-2017 – Establishment of perinatal services regionalization
2017 – Introduction of State drug program for chronic diseases
2017 – Starting of Phase III of Universal health Care program – Service stratification according to revenue groups

Since 2013, the Universal health Care program has been launched, which was commencement of universal access to medical services funded by state for all citizens of Georgia. The Universal health Care program covers the planned outpatient, urgent outpatient-in-patient and planned surgical services, as well as the treatment of oncological diseases and delivery.

The research carried out by the World Bank, the World Health Organization and the US Agency for International Development revealed the main achievements of the Universal health Care Program: increased access to medical services, increased use of medical services, and reduction of financial barriers and expansion of coverage.

In the publication of European Health Report 2015 of World Health Organization’s European Bureau, Universal Health Care Program in Georgia has been recognized as the successful project. From May 2017 to further reform of the program, it was expedient to elaborate new criteria for differentiation of beneficiaries.

The basic object of reform is to provide services more oriented on need and to develop the approach -“social equity”.
The services package is connected to the income of the population.
From July 1, 2017, for people with chronic illnesses who are registered in the unified database of “socially unprotected families” and their rating score is not exceeding 100 000, have been enacted state program for providing medicines for chronic diseases.

The program envisages providing patients with number of medicines for cardiovascular chronic illnesses, lung chronic diseases, diabetes (type 2) and thyroid gland diseases. On April 21, 2015, Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the company “Gilead” and the Government of Georgia, which laid foundation for the elimination of hepatitis C in Georgia.

The services are provided for persons with hepatitis C certifying citizenship of Georgia and persons with neutral travel documents, as well as for accused/convicts placed in penitentiary establishments. Increased government funding for maternal and child health and ease of access to the high quality health care services played an important role in the reduction of the number of deaths of mothers and children.

Georgia has been able to reach the Millennium Development Goal No.4, since in 2015 the mortality rate of children under five was 10.2 per 1000 live birth. The initiative of starting the perinatal care regionalization process from May 2015 is a significant step forward in strengthening the maternal and newborn health care system, which considers defining the levels of perinatal service providers and their role and responsibilities in order to provide the correct timing of the correct patient to a correct medical institution and, if necessary, effective referral.

Which country has the most good healthcare?

South Korea – South Korea tops the list of best healthcare systems in the world. It’s been praised for being modern and efficient, with quality, well-equipped medical facilities and highly trained medical professionals. Generally, treatment in South Korea is affordable and readily available.

The number of beds per 1000 people is 10, which is well above the OECD countries’ average of 5. South Korea provides universal healthcare but much healthcare is privately funded. Not all treatment is covered by South Korea’s universal healthcare scheme. Some procedures, such as those related to chronic illnesses such as cancer, won’t be covered and can be more expensive.

This is where expats should ensure they’re covered with comprehensive private healthcare insurance.

Do you have to pay hospital bills in Georgia?

Hospital bills can be very difficult for the average person to understand. According to the Georgia Fair Business Practices Act, a hospital or long-term care facility has six business days after you have been released from its care as an inpatient to provide you an itemized statement of all charges for which you are being billed.

Even though you may have had only one hospital visit, you can expect to receive a bill from each provider.
In addition to the hospital itself, this might include the emergency department, the radiologist, the admitting physician, the consulting physician and the anesthesiologist.
If your primary care physician referred you, you will probably also get a bill from him or her.

If you have insurance, be clear on what it covers. Insurance handbooks have a list of “excluded” procedures that you will have to pay for if they are performed. Be sure to read your benefits manual, call the insurance company, or ask at work about your employer-sponsored plan, so that you know which procedures are covered.

You should not rely on the information provided by your doctor. Ultimately, you are financially responsible for all authorized medical procedures and must pay the portion of your bill your insurance company does not cover. Physician fees are not regulated or capped. Usually, insurance companies set the amount they are willing to pay for a particular treatment; but physicians are allowed to charge as they see fit.

Under Georgia law, you have the right to inquire in advance about estimated charges for routine office visits, routine treatments and lab tests ( O.C.G.A, Section 43-34A-5). How to Catch Hospital Billing Errors If you can, make a note of all tests, treatments, medications and equipment involved in your care.

After you get your hospital bill, you have the right to review it and dispute any charges. Taking a few minutes to look it over could save you hundreds of dollars. Ask someone at the doctor’s office or hospital to review any charges you don’t understand. Even if you have insurance, the cost of billing errors will affect you through the premiums and the charges you pay.

Try this strategy to catch common errors:

Make sure you are charged for the correct length of stay and the right kind of room. Be alert for duplicate billings, particularly if you receive several bills. For example, if you have bills for inpatient and outpatient services, make sure the same charge does not appear on both bills. If a test was canceled and rescheduled, check that you were not billed for the canceled test. Watch for phantom charges. Many hospitals automatically impose a set of standard fees for procedures they usually perform in connection with certain services, such as the standard battery of tests administered when patients enter the hospital. If you refuse or don’t need some of the tests, make sure you’re not billed for them; the hospital may have neglected to erase these charges from your records. Watch for “unbundling,” a creative form of billing in which hospitals make it difficult to determine the total cost of a procedure by listing separate fees for each step. If you add up the unbundled charges, you may discover that the total is more than your insurer considers standard or acceptable for the procedure. Should your insurer refuse to pay the inflated cost, you may be stuck with the overcharges. Look for charges for items you didn’t request and for unused items. A hospital may offer a standard kit of supplies when you’re admitted, often with a hefty markup. If you don’t accept some of the supplies, you shouldn’t have to pay for them. Similarly, if you take only a couple of aspirin, you shouldn’t be charged for the entire bottle. If you do find errors, contact the hospital’s billing office or patient representative. If they have already filed an insurance claim, call your insurance company.

Usually the mistake is a simple one that can be corrected by contacting the provider’s billing office and, if necessary, your insurance company. However, there are times when mistakes are not accidental. Filing a Complaint It is your responsibility to try to resolve billing issues on your own.

Be sure to document any phone calls you make as part of this effort. You should contact the Georgia Department of Law’s Consumer Protection Division only if you were confined to the hospital overnight or longer and did not receive an itemized bill within the required six days following your discharge; or if you believe the hospital made an intentional attempt to defraud you, in violation of the standards of the Fair Business Practices Act.

If your bill is correct but you have a dispute with your insurance company over coverage, you would contact the Office of the Commissioner of Insurance, Other types of complaints about hospitals, nursing homes and hospices are handled by the Georgia Department of Community Health’s Healthcare Facility Regulation Division,

How much does health insurance cost in Tbilisi Georgia?

How much does health insurance cost in Georgia? Georgia residents can expect to pay an average of $585 per person* for a major medical individual health insurance plan. Prices will vary and premiums can be lower if you are in good health.

How many people in Georgia don’t have healthcare?

Adapted from Fast Facts for Medicaid Expansion by Georgia Budget & Policy Institute

One thing Gov. Kemp and the state legislature can do right now to protect families is to expand the Medicaid health insurance program so that more people have health coverage and can get care if they become sick without worrying about large medical bills afterward. Most states have already taken this step – it is time for Governor Kemp and our state legislature to do the right thing and expand Medicaid.
Immediate Medicaid expansion would save lives, provide desperately needed coverage to Georgia’s most vulnerable, accelerate economic recovery and stabilize rural health systems.

Key statistics:

In total, over 560,000 Georgians would be able to see a health provider and not worry about facing medical debt if the state expanded Medicaid.
- 408,000 low-income Georgians do not qualify for Medicaid in Georgia and make too little to get financial help to buy private insurance at healthcare.gov. These Georgians have incomes below the poverty line (less than $12,769 a year for an individual or $21,720 a year for a family of three) and fall into the coverage gap with no affordable health insurance options.

- Another 158,000 uninsured Georgians make slightly above the poverty line (between 100 and 138 percent of poverty).
- Most will qualify for premium subsidies on healthcare.gov, but they may not be able to use the coverage because of high deductibles or copayments. Medicaid does not have deductibles and has small copayments based on income.
1.4 million Georgians do not have health insurance, and Georgia’s uninsured rate of 13.7 percent is third highest in the country. In rural Georgia, the uninsured rate could climb to more than 25 percent by 2026,
Closing the coverage gap can significantly strengthen mental health and addiction treatment and services in Georgia, About 25 percent of uninsured Georgians who would qualify for Medicaid expansion coverage suffer from mental illness or substance abuse.

Georgians need health coverage to stay healthy

Georgians who could gain coverage under Medicaid expansion earn below 138 percent of the federal poverty leve l, or about $17,600 for an individual, $23,790 for a family of two and $29,970 for a family of three.
Sixty percent of people who would be covered by Medicaid expansion are working but often not offered health benefits through their job or do not get paid enough to afford their employer plan. Only 41 percent of Georgia employers offer employer-sponsored health insurance.
Closing Georgia’s coverage gap would extend health insurance to over 155,000 uninsured women, Georgia ranks among the bottom five states for women’s health insurance coverage.
Closing the coverage gap could extend health insurance to nearly half of Georgia’s uninsured veterans, expanding coverage to 32,000 uninsured veterans and military spouses in our state.
Closing the coverage gap would help address racial disparities in health care access and outcomes. About 36 percent of Georgians in the coverage gap are Black, and 22 percent are Latinx.

Closing coverage gap yields economic benefits for state and helps accelerate economic recovery

For every dollar the state spends on closing the coverage gap, Georgia receives up to $9 in federal funding.
Closing the coverage gap could create 56,000 jobs in Georgia each year and boost the state’s economic output by $6.5 billion annually,
Closing the coverage gap could create 12,000 jobs and $1.3 billion in new economic activity in Georgia’s rural communities each year.
Georgians are already paying federal taxes toward closing our coverage gap, but state leaders have refused billions in federal health care dollars meant to pay for Georgians’ health coverage and stabilize struggling rural hospitals.

Stabilize struggling rural hospitals by closing the coverage gap

Nine rural hospitals have shuttered since 2013 across the state, and more than half of Georgia’s remaining rural hospitals are financially vulnerable to closure, At least 118 counties in Georgia are considered rural because they have a population below 50,000.
Many Georgia hospitals are struggling because they treat so many patients who lack health insurance and cannot afford high out-of-pocket costs. Closing the coverage gap opens up an important revenue stream to ensure rural communities have access to health care.
Taxpayers end up paying a share of the cost for uninsured people who show up in emergency rooms. Closing the coverage gap would allow people to go to their doctor instead of the emergency room when they get sick.
Other states see significant reductions in uncompensated care after closing their coverage gaps : Arkansas experienced a 56.4 percent decrease; Kentucky saw a 59.7 percent decrease.

Strengthen mental health, substance use treatment by expanding health coverage

Closing the coverage gap can significantly strengthen behavioral health treatment and services in Georgia, About 25 percent of uninsured Georgians who would qualify for Medicaid expansion coverage suffer from mental illness or substance abuse.
States that closed their coverage gap expanded treatment services to more people with mental illness or substance use disorders, Kentucky saw a 700 percent increase in Medicaid beneficiaries using substance use treatment services after the state expanded eligibility in 2014.
Addiction is a disease and most people need treatment to get better. Good treatment works but many people don’t have the opportunity to get that treatment. We can support our friends, family and loved ones in the coverage gap by making sure they have access to Medicaid coverage and the addiction services they need.
Access to Medicaid is particularly important for communities of color who, due to many barriers including socioeconomic factors, are less likely to have access to coverage, or complete treatment for substance use disorders than any other group.
Opioid specific funding helps only the portion of individuals with opioid use disorders and leaves out the large numbers of people addicted to alcohol or other drugs. Providing Medicaid coverage improves access to treatment for people with all types of substance use disorders.

Georgia can afford to close the coverage gap

Georgia can afford to close the coverage gap, but state leaders have so far chosen to spend tax dollars in other ways, like $309 million for insurance company tax breaks. State leaders could also increase Georgia’s extremely low tobacco tax to the national average to raise hundreds of millions of dollars a year. Three in four Georgians support raising the tobacco tax by $1, according to a recent poll,
Closing the coverage gap would extend health coverage to almost half a million Georgians, support struggling hospitals, create 56,000 jobs and bring in $3 billion from the federal government. The annual net cost to Georgia would be $143 million in 2020.

Georgia can expand Medicaid in a few different ways

The Georgia Department of Community Health, the state Medicaid agency, can submit a state plan amendment to the federal government. The federal government has 90 days to approve it. Most expansion states took this path, referred to as a “traditional” Medicaid expansion.
The state Medicaid agency can submit a request to the federal government to waive certain parts of the Medicaid program. This plan, called an 1115 Medicaid waiver, can include increasing the Medicaid income eligibility to 138 percent of poverty (as intended by the Affordable Care Act). So far, seven states expanded Medicaid using waivers. For more about the differences between traditional Medicaid expansion and Medicaid 1115 waivers, see this fact sheet,
In December of 2019, Georgia submitted an 1115 waiver that partially expanded Medicaid eligibility up to 100 percent of the poverty line. The plan has not yet been approved by federal officials, but it includes illegal work reporting requirements and is expected to only receive a 67 percent federal match instead of the full expansion’s 90 percent match. You can read more about Gov. Kemp’s Medicaid waiver plan here and here,
Senate Bill (SB) 106, signed in March of 2019, restricted the Department of Community Health from extending coverage past the poverty line. State leaders should consider the following options to remove this restriction so more Georgians can receive Medicaid coverage:

1. State lawmakers can amend SB 106 to allow expansion up to 138 percent of poverty and/or add language to the budget allowing the department to pursue a full expansion.
2. The Governor should consider if his emergency powers would allow him to authorize a full Medicaid expansion by suspending the restrictions from SB 106 to prevent delay in pursuing expanded coverage. The governor’s public health emergency powers allow him to “suspend any regulatory statute prescribing the procedures for conduct of state business, or the orders, rules, or regulations of any state agency, if strict compliance with any statute, order, rule, or regulation would in any way prevent, hinder, or delay necessary action in coping with the emergency.”
3. The Department of Community Health should consider ways to expand coverage through emergency 1115(a) Medicaid waivers and resubmitting the state’s current waiver to remove work reporting requirements and other provisions that impose barriers to coverage and care.

Georgia Department of Community Health, July 8, 2019. Georgia Environmental Scan Report, Page17. “Count of Uninsured by Age & Poverty Status” See footnote 1 Download a pdf copy of this resource here,

How many Georgia hospitals have closed?

CUTHBERT, Ga. — Lacandie Gipson struggled to breathe. The 33-year-old woman with multiple health conditions was in respiratory distress and awaiting an ambulance. About 20 minutes after the emergency call, it arrived. The Cuthbert home where Gipson lived was less than a mile from Southwest Georgia Regional Medical Center, but the ambulance couldn’t take her to the one-story brick hospital because it had closed three months earlier, in October 2020. Does Georgia Have Good Healthcare Since Southwest Georgia Regional Medical Center in Cuthbert, Georgia, closed in October 2020, many local residents with health emergencies have been forced to travel to a hospital 27 miles away in Eufaula, Alabama. For some, being that far from emergency care can be dangerous.

Andy Miller / KHN) The Cuthbert hospital was one of 19 rural hospitals in the U.S.
That closed in 2020.
That’s the largest number of such facilities to shut down in a single year since 2005, when the Cecil G.
Sheps Center for Health Services Research at the University of North Carolina began tracking the data.

In the past 10 years, eight rural hospitals have shut down in Georgia; only Texas and Tennessee have had more closures. The center’s data shows that 86 of the 129 hospitals that closed in that time were in Texas and the Southeast. Health care experts and recent studies say Medicaid expansion helps keep hospitals afloat because it increases the number of adults with low incomes who have health insurance.

None of the eight states with the most rural hospital closures since 2014, when Medicaid expansion was first implemented through the Affordable Care Act, had chosen to expand the insurance program by the start of 2021.
In several of those states, including Georgia, Republican-led governments have said such a step would be too costly.

Georgia’s inaction on Medicaid expansion “hurt us probably more than anybody else,” said Cuthbert Mayor Steve Whatley, a Republican who lost his reelection bid in the city of about 3,400 people in November. A hospital closure may be felt more in some communities than others.

How many hospitals are in Georgia country?

2019 data: 265 hospitals, 17,500 patient beds in Georgia A total of were in operation in Georgia in 2019, while the number of beds reached 16,000 in 2018, says the National Statistics Office of Georgia (Geostat). The average use of one hospital bed amounted to 4.9 days, while patient beds had an occupancy rate of just under half a year at 179.5 days.

Why is Atlanta Medical closing?

Elected officials accuse Wellstar of discrimination after recent hospital closures – A group of elected officials made strong comments at Georgia’s State Capitol Wednesday. They accused Wellstar, of catering to predominantly white areas while turning their backs on areas of color after the parent company closed two of its hospitals in metro Atlanta.

ATLANTA – A group of elected officials are asking for a federal investigation following the closing of two hospitals in metro Atlanta,
The lawmakers accused the hospitals’ parent company of discriminating against communities of color, while expanding operations in predominately white communities.
Atlanta Medical Center was one of only two Level 1 trauma centers in the region.

Last year, Wellstar Health System announced it was closing the 450-bed AMC in the heart of Atlanta and Atlanta Medical Center South in East Point due to a decline in revenue, a move that also resulted in the closure or relocation of several doctors’ offices in Atlanta and the south metro area. Does Georgia Have Good Healthcare Wellstar Atlanta Medical Center Downtown in Atlanta (FOX 5). “The closure of the two Wellstar hospitals in central and south Fulton County over the last eight months have had a tremendous negative impact on our residents,” Fulton County Commission Chairman Robb Pitts said.

Wellstar had operated both hospitals since 2016 after buying them and others from for-profit operator Tenet Healthcare Corp, On Wednesday, state and local elected officials called on the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights and the IRS to investigate. “Wellstar thought they could get away with this scot-free,” said Pitts.

“But it’s not going to happen.” The group accuses Wellstar of health care redlining, of expanding operations in predominately white areas, while abandoning minority communities. Does Georgia Have Good Healthcare Barricades block the former entrance to the now closed Atlanta Medical Center on March 8, 2023. (FOX 5) Officials have filed two complaints with the federal agencies. They maintain that by shuttering the medical facilities the non-profit hospital system has failed to comply with the requirements to maintain their tax-exempt status.

The complaint to the HHS alleges Wellstar broke federal law by closing two hospitals that served primarily Black populations while continuing to operate hospitals that served richer, whiter people. They also allege Wellstar has violated Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act which prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, or national origin in any program or activity that receives federal funds.

“Upon closure, they imposed great harm, and that harm continues today as we speak,” said state Sen. Nan Orrock, D-Atlanta, said. Does Georgia Have Good Healthcare State Sen. Nan Orrock, D-Atlanta (FOX 5) The complaint to the IRS also charges while Wellstar performed a required community health-needs study under rules for nonprofit hospitals, it failed to implement a strategy to address those needs. Sen. Orrock and others cite a 2021 letter from the Atlanta Medical Center’s advisory board saying management proposed and discarded a series of “opaque” and “vague” plans to improve operations and finances, showing a “long-term lack of vision and clear direction.” “WellStar should be held to account. Does Georgia Have Good Healthcare A leasing sign is outside the former site of Atlanta Medical Center on March 8, 2023 (FOX 5) In a statement to FOX 5 Thursday, Wellstar said the accusations of discrimination were “outrageous and false.” “Since February 2020, when Wellstar publicly announced a formal search for a partner or buyer to find a sustainable path forward, we have been open, honest and transparent about the challenges we faced.

They were multi-faceted and included the age of AMC’s buildings, the fact that utilization was less than half of the bed capacity and a lack of public and private support,” a spokesperson said in a statement. “We connected with healthcare organizations locally, regionally and across the country. Potential partners expressed interest, but ultimately none were interested.

None of these facts were presented or discussed in today’s press conference. We are focused and committed to continue serving diverse communities throughout the region and providing them the specialized programs and resources they need.” Previously, the Marietta -based health care system has stated it had spent more than $350 million to cover losses and make improvements at Atlanta Medical Center, losing $100 million in the year before closing. Does Georgia Have Good Healthcare Grady Memorial Hospital Emergency Room sign. State and county officials have since pumped money into Grady Memorial Hospital — a publicly owned safety net hospital blocks away from Atlanta Medical Center — to try to take up the slack. The medical center’s closure meant the loss of the city’s only other emergency room besides Grady with a highest-level trauma designation and an obstetrics department where many babies were born.

Opponents also target Wellstar’s negotiations to buy the Augusta University Health System, which operates two hospitals in Augusta. They particularly criticized Wellstar’s acquisition of the rights to build a hospital in Augusta’s mostly white Columbia County suburbs, and the $105 million that the state is providing to buy a new electronic medical records system for the university’s Medical College of Georgia, from which Wellstar would benefit.

“You don’t walk away, get yourself in the budget for a hospital over in Columbia County, and turn your backs,” Orrock said. Since AMC’s closure, Piedmont Henry Hospital in Stockbridge has earned a Level 3 trauma center rating while Northeast Georgia Medical Center in Gainesville was upgraded to a Level 1 certification.

What state has the best good medical care?

Hawaii is the top state for health care in the U.S. It has the best health outcomes in the country, with low preventable death (47 per 100,000 people), diabetes mortality and obesity rates.

Which state has most healthcare?

States with Best Health Care Systems

Overall Rank	State	Outcomes
1	Rhode Island	11
2	Massachusetts	1
3	Hawaii	3
4	Minnesota	10

What are the health problems in rural Georgia?

Rural Georgia: A “health penalty” – Rural Georgians disproportionately experience poor health outcomes—”higher death rates due to heart disease, stroke, cancer and motor vehicle accidents; higher rates of smoking; increased prevalence of chronic conditions such as diabetes; and an epidemic of adverse maternal and child health outcomes, including teen births and low birthweight babies,” according to Gary Nelson, PhD, president of the Healthcare Georgia Foundation.

In a 2016 invited editorial in the Journal of the Georgia Public Health Association, Dr.
Nelson declared, “There is a significant health penalty for living in rural Georgia.” Many rural Georgians have limited access to affordable, quality health care.
Increasing numbers lack insurance, with an estimated 55 rural counties having uninsured rates above the state average.

Aging populations face increased difficulty in traveling for their medical care. Reinforcing these trends: shortages in the healthcare workforce across multiple disciplines.

What is the most common disease in Georgia?

What is Cardiovascular Disease? Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the single leading cause of death in Georgia, accounting for more than 22,000 deaths a year. This is about 1 in 3 deaths overall. Most of these deaths are premature and preventable. Each year, 142,000 years of potential life lost occur in Georgia due to CVD.

CVD includes all diseases of the heart and blood vessels, including ischemic heart disease, stroke, congestive heart failure, hypertension and atherosclerosis.
High blood pressure, high LDL cholesterol, and smoking are key risk factors for heart disease.
About half of all Americans have at least one of these three risk factors.

Several other medical conditions and lifestyle choices can also put people at a higher risk for heart disease, including diabetes, obesity, poor diet, physical inactivity, and excessive alcohol use. To prevent CVD, you should maintain a healthy lifestyle to include a balanced diet, physical activity, refrain from tobacco use, and adhere to prescribed medication(s).

Additionally, incorporate your team of health care providers to assist in controlling your health and maintaining a healthy lifestyle through regular blood pressure and cholesterol checks.
Combating Heart Disease in Georgia Cardiovascular disease has risen to the top of the chart for leading causes of death in Georgia.

Preventable and controllable chronic diseases cost Georgia more than $40 billion dollars per year and are the leading preventable causes of death and disability in Georgia. Georgia is ranked 39th in the nation for health outcomes. With 1 out of every 6 residents in Georgia living in poverty, this serves as a predictor for lifelong poor health outcomes.

Specifically, 20.5% of children in Georgia are living in poverty. Poor workforce health and the perception of Georgians maintaining unhealthy lifestyles also contribute to the low ranking. Preventing cardiovascular disease will lead to better health outcomes for the State of Georgia and decrease the billions of dollars spent on this preventable cause of hospitalization, death, and disability.

Diabetes – Million Hearts.png In efforts to fight heart disease, The Georgia Department of Public Health is a proud participant in Million Hearts, Spearheaded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, this national public health initiative aims to prevent 1 million heart attacks and strokes by 2027.

A – Aspirin, when appropriate B – Blood Pressure Control C – Cholesterol Management D – Diabetes Management S – Smoking Cessation

To Prevent Cardiovascular Disease

Know and control your blood pressure Aim for 30 minutes of physical activity each day (this can be broken into 5- or 10-minute bouts) Self-manage your diabetes Know and control your cholesterol and triglyceride levels Eat plenty of fruits and vegetables Choose lean meats rather than red meat Reduce your sodium intake Choose not to use tobacco products Maintain a healthy weight

NIH BMI calculator

Limit alcohol consumption

General Heart Disease Resources Providers/Physicians Tools and Training | cdc.gov Healthy People Tools & Protocols | Million Hearts® Data & Reports | Million Hearts® Home | National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) Pharmacists Team Up. Pressure Down.