Jul 31, 2017 “In Medicaid expansion, states’ premiums have been 7 to 8 percent lower,” said Laura Colbert with Georgians for a Healthy Future, a group that supports Medicaid expansion.

Jul 26, 2017

Laura Colbert of consumer group Georgians for a Healthy Future said, “We are disappointed that the Senate has chosen to move forward on proposals that so clearly threaten the coverage and access that Georgia consumers and patients rely on every day.”

Jul 26, 2017

“It was very intense,” Laura Colbert said. “This has been a really intense period and a long fight. So I think we had some hope that we might have a resolution today and we could really begin a more deliberative and constructive policy making process. So it is disappointing that we’re not there yet.”

Jul 25, 2017

“The way to fix that is the opposite of essentially what would be happening in the Senate bill,” said Laura Colbert, the director of outreach for the patient advocacy group Georgians for a Healthy Future.

Jul 17, 2017

“For the individual market, (Blue Cross Blue Shield) is probably are the most important insurer in the state. They cover all 159 counties, and for 96 of Georgia’s counties, they’re the only insurer in the individual marketplace,” says Laura Colbert with non-partisan group Georgians for a Healthy Future.

Jul 12, 2017

Cindy Zeldin, executive director of Georgians for a Healthy Future, said many customers who are low or middle income won’t have to pay the entire sticker price because of tax subsidies from the government to help pay for the premiums.

Jul 11, 2017

Panelists will include Laura Colbert, the director of Outreach and Partnerships at Georgians for a Healthy Future; Janel Green, co-founder of Georgia Alliance for Social Justice; Keri Norris, the Chief Health Policy Administrator for the Fulton-DeKalb Hospital Authority; and representatives from the Medical Association of Georgia .

Jul 7, 2017

“What we need to do is get some certainty, and it needs to be certainty that benefits consumers,” said Cindy Zeldin, the Executive Director of Georgians for a Healthy Future. “And of course the Department of Insurance should do everything in its power to make sure any rate increases it approves are fair and justified.”

Jul 7, 2017

Cindy Zeldin of consumer group Georgians for a Healthy Future, which supports the Affordable Care Act, said Thursday that the rate increases reflect the uncertainty over the exchanges’ future.

Jun 5, 2017

The Republican legislation, if enacted, “would have an especially big impact on children of color in our state,’’ Laura Colbert adds. “We already see health disparities in communities of color in terms of shorter life spans and higher rates of chronic diseases.  Coverage losses among primarily children of color would widen those gaps.”