NEWS & MEDIA
- Home
- >
- News & Media
- >
- In The News
- >
- Page 16
In The News
Georgians for a Healthy Future is frequently cited in news articles about health care issues, ensuring the consumer perspective is heard. Read news stories featuring Georgians for a Healthy Future’s perspective below.
2021
“Medical debt burdens Georgians significantly, stemming in part from the state’s large uninsured population,” Laura Colbert, executive director of Georgians for a Healthy Future, said. “Southwest Georgia, in particular, has some of the highest health costs in the country due primarily to the lack of competition among providers and insurers.”
Laura Colbert of the consumer advocacy group Georgians for a Healthy Future said the recent enrollees could include people who lost jobs and those who didn’t know about the fall enrollment period.
“A lot of people may not know that they were eligible for subsidies,” she added.
If Georgia fully expanded Medicaid with the federal government absorbing 95% of the tab, the state could cover more than 350,000 of the over 400,000 uninsured people living in Georgia, according to Georgians for a Healthy Future.
“It’s a largely positive step forward,” said Laura Colbert of the advocacy group Georgians for a Healthy Future. “But there’s a risk that Gov. Kemp and state leaders walk away and leave low-income Georgians with nothing.”
Special enrollment period now open for ACA, could benefit thousands of Georgians without health care
Laura Colbert, the executive director of a non-partisan healthcare organization called Georgians for a Healthy Future, told Wilfon that many Georgians will benefit.
“In Georgia there are about a million and a half uninsured folks, and at least half of those are eligible but un-enrolled in the Affordable Care Act. So we know there are plenty of folks out there who could really benefit from this open enrollment time,” Colbert said.
If it becomes law, the “express lane” bill would allow an estimated 60,000 additional Medicaid-eligible Georgia children to enroll in the joint state-federal health coverage program, according to the nonprofit advocacy group Georgians for a Healthy Future.
“It’s a largely positive step forward,” said Laura Colbert of the advocacy group Georgians for a Healthy Future. “But there’s a risk that Gov. Kemp and state leaders walk away and leave low-income Georgians with nothing.”
Laura Colbert of the advocacy group Georgians for a Healthy Future said she was surprised at how speedily the Biden administration pulled back approval for Kemp’s overhaul. But she cautioned that much depends on how the governor and federal officials respond next.
“It’s a largely positive step forward, but there’s a risk that Gov. Kemp and state leaders walk away and leave low-income Georgians with nothing,” said Colbert, whose group says full Medicaid expansion is the morally and economically responsible thing to do for the state.
“If work requirements are removed from the governor’s plan, many more Georgians could gain coverage,’’ said Laura Colbert of the advocacy group Georgians for a Healthy Future. “This would be a positive move, although other barriers to coverage are still in place and the plan would still cover fewer people than a full Medicaid expansion.’’