By Emma Newburger – CNBC A national battle over whether to extend public health insurance to low-income adults is at the center of a tightly contested gubernatorial race in Georgia, where hospitals and drug stores are closing across the...
More infoShe thought her ER charges had been waived. Then she got a $1,200 bill in the mail
By Samantha Max – The Telegraph When Joni Mickey went to the emergency room in March 2017, she thought she was having a heart attack. The 60-year-old had been experiencing chest pains, and she rushed to Houston Medical Center in Warner Robins for...
More infoA Look at Georgia’s Coverage Gap
By Daniel Thomas, Volunteer As part of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), millions of Americans gained coverage through the implementation of Marketplaces for health insurance and Medicaid expansion. Medicaid expansion was meant to be a national policy as part...
More infoSenate Bill to repeal Obamacare, reaction to cuts in Georgia
By JoAnn Merrigan – WSAV GEORGIA (WSAV) — The long-awaited Senate version of the plan to repeal Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) was released Friday to a round of criticism and some applause. The Senate version of the bill (versus the House) was...
More info“Hundreds of thousands could lose insurance in Georgia under GOP plan”
By Misty Williams – The Atlanta Journal-Consitution Published online: March 15, 2017, In print: March 16, 2017 An estimated 750,000 Georgians — many of them poor and older — could lose their health insurance under the GOP’s Obamacare replacement...
More info“Louisiana rolls out Medicaid expansion; can it be a model for Georgia?”
By Tom Crawford On June 1, Louisiana became the first southern state bordering the Gulf of Mexico to launch a Medicaid expansion program funded through the Affordable Care Act. That happened because of the upset victory last fall of Democrat John Bel...
More infoEngaging with Local Hospitals on Community Health
Is your hospital on this List? If so, it is a non-profit hospital, and most Georgia hospitals fall into this category. Non-profit hospitals do not have to pay most federal, state and local taxes. In return for their tax-exempt status, the Internal Revenue...
More info“The hospital combination game: 2 examples in Georgia”
Published in Georgia Health News, April 3, 2016 Written by: Andy Miller The two deals are very different in size and other details, but the Georgia hospital combinations announced last week reflect the fast pace of such partnerships between sometimes...
More info“Ga. uninsured rate improves, but still ranks among the highest”
By TOM CRAWFORD | Published: SEPTEMBER 18, 2015 The percentage of Georgians without health insurance declined in 2014, as it did in most other states, an improvement that was attributed to a stronger economy and the availability of coverage through the...
More info“WellStar Health System seeks to buy five metro Atlanta hospitals”
By Andy Miller, as published Thursday, July 23rd in the Atlanta Journal Constitution One of Atlanta’s biggest health systems is aiming to expand its reach across the metro area by buying up five hospitals — a move that could set off an intense battle for...
More info“ObamaCare Survives with Supreme Court Ruling”
Savannah, Georgia – June 25, 2015 by Ian Margol, WSAV-TV Link to newscast here. A major victory for the Affordable Care Act; in a 6-3 vote Thursday the Supreme Court upheld nationwide federal tax subsidies under the healthcare law. It’s the second...
More infoGeorgia Watch applauds U.S. Supreme Court decision in King v. Burwell
ATLANTA, GA June 25, 2015 – Today, the United States Supreme Court made an important decision that preserves health insurance coverage for the more than 400,000 Georgians who receive tax credits. “Georgia Watch is breathing a sigh of relief because...
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