Blog

Guest Blog By Joann Yoon
Associate Policy Director for Child Health
Voices for Georgia’s Children

As the November 2 elections draw closer and as the rhetoric among the candidates becomes more heated, Georgians may start to feel “voter fatigue” and may begin to wonder if any common ground exists among the candidates. Thankfully, we do have an example of how the two leading candidates for Governor each has demonstrated leadership and support for a program that is helping many working families in Georgia—PeachCare for Kids. PeachCare is our state’s Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), which was created by federal legislation in 1997 and was implemented in Georgia in 1998. Although the initial creation of CHIP was through the work of federal legislators on Capitol Hill, it was our leaders here in the state who put it to work for Georgians. Governor Barnes was in office at the time that the PeachCare program was off and running, and Congressman Deal was one of the federal representatives who boldly spoke out about the importance of PeachCare when the program was threatened with extinction in 2008.

The conversations may become more heated. The tv ads and mailers seemingly may be caked in mud. BUT we have seen how each of these men has stepped up in the past to make sure that Georgia’s PeachCare program was not only effective for kids and families but also cost-effective for the state.

We can only hope that the success of PeachCare’s creation is eclipsed by even greater policies to benefit kids and families in Georgia throughout the next four years.