Healthcare Links & Resources
Program Details
We have direct contact with consumers through educational presentations and the Georgia Watch consumer help line. By talking to consumers who call Georgia Watch and responding to emails sent through the website, we directly assist Georgians with their healthcare and medical expense questions. Not only does Georgia Watch help individuals when responding to these inquiries, but the organization also becomes educated about the real issues consumers face all over the state. We also create resources to educate consumers, lawmakers, and other stakeholders about developments in healthcare policy.
Whether undertaken by Georgia Watch independently, or in concert with partner organizations, advocating for consumer-friendly policies at various levels of government has always been critical to our healthcare access work. It is our contact with consumers, and the information we gain from them, that gives Georgia Watch a unique perspective that we use when doing policy and advocacy work.
- We approach policy development with an open mind that focuses on the consumer and not a particular ideology.
- We participated in the PCORI project to explore care provided by advanced practice registered nurses, telehealth technology, or school-based clinics in rural areas.
- We give consumers a voice in the State Legislature and monitors actions taken by federal and state administrative agencies that affect Georgia healthcare consumers.
- We publish policy papers on various healthcare access issues, with a particular focus on rural and vulnerable healthcare consumers’ needs:
- In 2014, we contributed to a jointly authored report submitted to Governor Deal’s Rural Hospital Stabilization Committee on the positive impact that Medicaid expansion could have on Georgia’s struggling rural hospitals.
- In 2015, we published a comprehensive policy report on the current status of Advanced Practice Registered Nurses in Georgia.
- In 2015, we published a report on nonprofit hospital community health needs assessments.
- In 2015, we published a detailed paper on IRS regulations governing hospital community health needs assessments.
| Concern | Description | Resources |
|---|---|---|
| Healthcare Access | Short National Consumer Law Center guide for dealing with medical bills and debt. | Dealing with Medical Debt: Consumer Advice from NCLC |
| Healthcare Access | An up-to-date guide for uninsured individuals seeking low-cost healthcare. | Accessing Affordable Healthcare: A Guide for the Uninsured |
| Healthcare Access | Find a healthcare provider in your community using the Healthy Mothers Healthy Babies resource line and online search portal: 1-800-300-9003 | Find a Provider |
| Medical Bills | A resource from Georgia Watch on managing medical bills and medical debt. | Georgia Consumer Guide for Medical Bills and Debt |
| Healthcare Access | The Indigent Care Trust Fund (ICTF) is a state-sponsored program that subsidizes care for low-income individuals at participating hospitals. | Indigent Care Trust Fund |
| Medical Bills | A resource for finding assistance with medical bills and medical debt | Medical Bills: Find Help |
| Medical Bills | A one-page resource from Georgia Watch on handling medical bills and avoiding surprise bills | Medical Bills: Know Your Rights! |
| Free Clinics | Find a free or charitable health clinic near you with this searchable map from the National Association of Free & Charitable Clinics. | Free and Charitable Clinics |
| ACA & Taxes (Spanish) | ¿Qué es la multa? ¿Cuánto costaría la multa? ¿Qué sucede si no solicité mi carta de exención en Internet por medio de la página healthcare.gov? ¿Todavía puedo solicitar una exención? | Asistencia Médica Asequible: Multas y Exenciones |
| Patient Safety | Find out your hospital’s safety grade. | Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade |
| Healthcare Access | Find your county health department where you can get immunizations, prenatal care, pediatric services, cancer screenings, etc. | Public Health Departments |
| Health Insurance | Contact the Insurance Commissioner’s Office to file a complaint regarding any kind of insurance policy in Georgia. | Georgia Department of Insurance |
| Healthcare Access | Search Georgia’s Community Health Centers, an important resource for the uninsured. | Georgia Association for Primary Health Care |
| Hospital Accountability | Financial assistance is a crucial component of the safety net system, as it provides a bridge to care for those who might otherwise not receive it. | Health Voices: Financial Assistance at Hospitals |
| Healthcare Access | Need answers about access to healthcare coverage? HealthCare.gov is your best online resource for subsidized health insurance sold in the Affordable Care Act Marketplace. Also, feel free to contact a Georgia Watch navigator for answers. | HealthCare.Gov |
| Medicare | Need assistance with Medicare? Visit the official U.S. Government site for Medicare, providing health insurance for disabled individuals or those 65 and older. | Medicare.gov |
| Healthcare for Kids | Learn more about PeachCare for Kids®, a comprehensive healthcare program for uninsured children living in Georgia. | PeachCare for Kids |
| Medicaid | Medicaid provides a health insurance option for limited groups of low-income Georgians: children, parents, pregnant women, women with breast or cervical cancer and people who are aging, blind and/or disabled. | Georgia’s Medicaid Program |
| Healthcare Costs | The Patient Advocate Foundation provides services related to medical debt negotiation and co-pay assistance. | Patient Advocate Foundation |
| Patient Safety | The GCMB licenses physicians, physician assistants and other provider types. Complaints against physicians and other providers should be filed with the GCMB. | Georgia Composite Medical Board |
| Find Hospitals | This resource provided by the Georgia Department of Community Health allows you to find hospitals, personal care homes, nursing home and ambulatory surgical centers near you. | GAMap2Care |
| Healthcare Access | Charitable care clinics offer free or reduced-cost healthcare services to those who qualify. Find one in your area. | Georgia Charitable Care Network |
Health Access Program Reports & Primers
| Concern | Description | Resources |
|---|---|---|
| Healthcare Access | Short National Consumer Law Center guide for dealing with medical bills and debt. | Dealing with Medical Debt: Consumer Advice from NCLC |
| Healthcare Access | An up-to-date guide for uninsured individuals seeking low-cost healthcare. | Accessing Affordable Healthcare: A Guide for the Uninsured |
| Medical Bills | A factsheet on Georgia’s Surprise Billing Law. | What You Need to Know About Georgia’s Surprise Billing Law |
| Medical Bills | A resource from Georgia Watch on managing medical bills and medical debt. | Georgia Consumer Guide for Medical Bills and Debt |
| Healthcare Access | The Indigent Care Trust Fund (ICTF) is a state-sponsored program that subsidizes care for low-income individuals at participating hospitals. | Indigent Care Trust Fund |
| Medical Bills | A resource for finding assistance with medical bills and medical debt | Medical Bills: Find Help |
| Medical Bills | A one-page resource from Georgia Watch on handling medical bills and avoiding surprise bills | Medical Bills: Know Your Rights! |
| Hospital Accountability | The Metropolitan Atlanta Hospital Accountability Project examines the financial practices of metropolitan area not-for-profit and for-profit hospitals in regards to health care access and affordability. | The Metropolitan Atlanta Hospital Accountability Project |
| Hospital Accountability | Financial assistance is a crucial component of the safety net system, as it provides a bridge to care for those who might otherwise not receive it. | Health Voices: Financial Assistance at Hospitals |
| Hospital Accountability | On March 23, 2010, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act was signed into law. The law addresses the practices of private nonprofit hospitals and implements crucial consumer protections for billing and collections and hospital financial assistance policies. | Hospitals and the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act |
| Healthcare Access | Georgia families are facing a crisis of affordable health as many struggle with exorbitant medical bills, chronic conditions and minimal access to adequate care. | Healthcare Affordability in Georgia |
| Health Insurance | In recent years, Georgia consumers have seen their health insurance premiums skyrocket with few resources to measure how their premium dollars are actually spent or what represents good value in an insurance policy. | Medical Loss Ratio Rules: Ensuring Value for Georgia’s Health Care Consumers |
| Hospital Accountability | More than one million Georgians – about 12 percent – do not speak English at home. These Georgians may be Limited English Proficient (LEP), meaning they cannot speak, read, write or understand the English language in a manner that allows them to effectively interact with health care providers. | Language Access at Hospitals |
| Hospital Accountability | Hospitals are the central component of Georgia‘s vast and complicated health care system. As key health care providers that offer a wide range of services, these hospitals have a unique opportunity to help reduce access disparities for vulnerable populations – particularly those that are low-income, uninsured and underinsured. | Georgia nonprofit hospitals, the provision of community benefits and the vulnerable patient |
| Hospital Accountability | An overview of hospital governance, operations and community benefits in Georgia. | Georgia Hospital Primer |
| Healthcare Access | General tips for accessing affordable healthcare. | Healthcare Affordability Primer |
| Patient Safety | A guide to common consumer safety concerns found in healthcare settings. |
