ATLANTA, GA — Early this morning, the U.S. House passed a sweeping budget proposal that threatens to dismantle key components of Georgia’s health care system. The proposal, which includes the largest cuts to Medicaid in the program’s 60-year history, would upend coverage and care for hundreds of thousands of Georgians and put immense pressure on rural hospitals and already-strained state health resources.
Georgians for a Healthy Future (GHF) has released a new blog outlining how the proposal would harm Georgia’s Medicaid program, the ACA Marketplace/Georgia Access, and Georgia families.
“Health care is one of the most basic building blocks of a thriving Georgia. This budget proposal would rip coverage away from 160,000 Georgians, leaving our state sicker. Families with young children, seniors, and people with disabilities will struggle with gaps in coverage and higher medical costs. Rural communities will be at higher risk of losing their local hospitals,” said Laura Colbert, Executive Director of Georgians for a Healthy Future. “Georgians have seen firsthand that work requirements don’t work. They’re simply paperwork penalties that leave more Georgians without the care they need. At a time when we should be investing in better care and closing Georgia’s coverage gap, the U.S. House has advanced a plan that moves us backward. Georgians deserve a health system that adequately meets their needs, not one dismantled for the sake of tax cuts for ultra-wealthy Americans. ”