Peach Pulse Archive 2023

Georgians for a Healthy Future celebrates the 58th anniversary of Medicaid this Sunday, July 30th! Fifty-eight (58) years ago Medicaid was signed into law and since then has provided affordable health care coverage to low-income children, pregnant people, people with disabilities, and seniors. One of Medicaid’s biggest lifetime achievements has been to narrow racial disparities in health care access all across the country.

This year, Medicaid’s birthday is happening amidst two BIG changes for Georgia’s Medicaid program:

1) Georgia has begun reviewing almost all Medicaid members to see who still qualifies for coverage. The process is off to a rocky start, and almost 100,000 Georgians have lost their Medicaid coverage to date. If you, your children, or other loved ones are covered by Medicaid, stay in charge of your coverage by logging into your Georgia Gateway account and look out for notices from the state about your coverage. If you are not a Medicaid member, help spread the word in your community.

2) Georgia has rolled out a new program for some uninsured low-income adults called Pathways to Coverage. If you or someone you know are currently uninsured, plan to join us for our August 8th FaceBook Live event to learn more about Pathways, whether you may qualify for coverage, and how to apply through Georgia Gateway. (Scroll down to the “Your Guide to Georgia Pathways” section for more information.)

Let’s celebrate Medicaid’s birthday by helping children and families keep their coverage during the Medicaid renewals process, getting as many Georgians as possible newly covered under the Pathways program, and keeping up the calls for Medicaid expansion!

Despite living in a state that is recognized as a global hub of health care innovation, employment, and investment, Black Georgians continue to experience worse health than white Georgians. The ways that our laws are structured is one cause for this inequality.

Black Georgians still lack equal access to affordable health care in our state. Almost 15% of Black Georgians are uninsured, compared to 11.9% of white Georgians who are uninsured. Additionally, Black Georgians are more likely to have medical debt in collections than white Georgians, due in part to higher uninsured rates.

Fortunately, our state leaders have an opportunity to reduce this inequity. The most effective action they could take is to expand Medicaid to cover uninsured adults in Georgia. This action would cover an estimated 140,000 Black Georgians and more than 490,000 Georgians total.

A gift for Georgia dads? Medicaid expansion!

For more than a decade, 400,000 Georgians have not been able to meaningfully access Georgia’s health care system because our state has not expanded Medicaid to all low-income, uninsured adults. One in four people in this coverage gap are Georgia parents. When dads and other parents don’t have health coverage, their children’s well-being also suffers. The health of Georgia’s children depends on their parent’s ability to care and support them–a task that is much easier for healthy, thriving parents.

Parents can only stay healthy if they can visit a doctor when they are sick, get affordable medicines at the pharmacy, and can be screened early for illnesses like cancer.

GHF and Cover Georgia are celebrating Juneteenth and Father’s Day all month long by letting state leaders know how Black Georgians and dads would be better off with Medicaid expansion. Tell your state legislators today that ALL Georgians deserve better access to health care with Medicaid expansion!

Last week, Georgians for a Healthy Future and the Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities hosted a virtual event to discuss opportunities to improve access to affordable, accessible housing for Georgians with IDD.

During the event, Whitney Griggs presented original research detailing the housing needs and challenges faced by Georgians with IDD and their caregivers. She also outlined seven policy recommendations to address their housing burdens and improve housing for all Georgians. To close the event, Whitney spoke with three disabilty housing leaders who added their perspectives and stories.

You can re-watch the event here and find the report on our website!

GHF will soon begin our second phase of advocacy in support of healthy housing. Stay tuned to learn more and get involved!

Are you a Georgia public health worker? GHF would like to invite you to take part in Community Conversations! Fill out this interest form to participate. These discussion groups with state, local, and district public health workers will help GHF better understand how to best support and strengthen Georgia’s public health systems and workers. Topics of discussion will focus on Georgia’s public health workforce, local and state public health policies, the public’s trust in public health workers and agencies, and more. Your participation and feedback will remain anonymous.

The information collected from these focus groups will help GHF and partner groups effectively engage the public and state leaders about what public health does and its value important in our lives.

We will host three sessions for public health workers in: 1) Rural local or district PH departments; 2) Non-rural local or district PH departments; and 3) the Georgia Dept. of Public Health. Each discussion group will take place virtually and last approximately 90 minutes.

Participation incentive: $25 gift card per participant.

If you would like to take part in Community Conversations, fill out this interest form. Please reach out to Knetta Adkins, Organizing Manager at kadkins@healthyfuturega.org or 404-400-2715 with any questions. 

Join Cover Georgia to ask our lawmakers to expand Medicaid so all Georgians–regardless of their income–have a pathway to health coverage. This Monday, Cover Georgia will host an advocacy day at the Georgia Capitol. The morning will begin with a training for those who want to learn more about the opportunity for Medicaid expansion in Georgia. You will learn effective advocacy skills to help you talk with your legislator and visit the Capitol to put your training into action! 

This is your chance to speak up about one of the biggest issues impacting the health of Georgians. Make your voice heard in support of Medicaid expansion in Georgia!

RSVP for 2023 Cover Georgia’s advocacy training!

Can’t make it to the Capitol this Monday? You can still let your lawmakers know that you care about this issue and you want them to take action. Take a few minutes to contact your state legislators now! Ask the House Health Committee to hear HB 62! Then ask the Senate Appropriations, Health subcommittee for a hearing on SB 24! Both bills would expand Medicaid in Georgia. Hearings give supporters and opponents a chance to publicly make their cases for or against an issue. Ask state leaders to allow a public and fair discussion of this important issue today!