Blog Community Impact Health Justice Laura Harker Rome Listening Tour Provides Earful on Community Mental Health Problems May 23, 2018 / May 19, 2020 by Laura Harker Talk to people around Rome, Ga. for a while and the conversation often shifts to the lingering stresses that plague the community after a state mental health facility closed seven years ago. Homelessness. Drug abuse. People with mental disabilities stuck in jail cells. The Georgia Budget and Policy Institute team visited Rome earlier this month […] Read more » Behavioral Health Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities health medicaid mental health Northwest Georgia Regional Hospital People-Powered Prosperity Rome
Blog Community Impact Health Justice Jennifer Owens Worker Justice Rome Stop on GBPI Listening Tour Highlights Need for Workforce Training, Health Care Access May 11, 2018 / May 19, 2020 by Jennifer Owens On a beautiful spring morning in the northwest foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, a group of community leaders in Rome, Ga. gathered over breakfast, laughter and catch-up conversations. But as the morning meeting settled in, the friendly exchanges about neighbors and talk of the Rome Braves game tapered off. A heavy and intense discussion ensued […] Read more »
Blog Health Justice Laura Harker A Health Insurance Card in Every Georgian’s Pocket May 1, 2018 / June 24, 2020 by Laura Harker Thousands of Georgians are stuck without any affordable options for health insurance because state leaders repeatedly reject billions of dollars meant to pay for coverage. About 240,000 workers, students, veterans and other Georgians make too little to get financial help to buy health insurance and do not currently qualify for Medicaid. The majority of these […] Read more » coverage-gap medicaid Medicaid Expansion
Blog Health Justice Laura Harker Legislation Proposes Steps to Improve Rural Health Care, Omits Major Coverage Solution March 12, 2018 / January 14, 2020 by Laura Harker State lawmakers introduced several bills this year aiming to improve access to health care in rural Georgia. Six rural Georgia hospitals closed since 2013 and the state’s high rate of uninsured means many people in rural communities lack health coverage. The House Rural Development Council, created in 2017 to study the problem, traveled across the […] Read more » coverage-gap HB 769 HB 827 health health coverage health insurance medicaid Medicaid Expansion micro-hospitals Rural hospitals
Health Justice Laura Harker Reports Overview: 2019 Fiscal Year Budget for Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities February 13, 2018 / January 14, 2020 by Laura Harker Gov. Nathan Deal’s budget proposal for the 2019 fiscal year adds $50.6 million more than last year’s budget in state general funds for the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities. The budget directs $14.9 million in state funds toward waiver programs and community support services. This helps continue implementation of a 2010 settlement with […] Read more » Budget Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities health opioids substance abuse
Health Justice Laura Harker Reports Overview: 2019 Fiscal Year Budget for the Department of Community Health February 6, 2018 / January 14, 2020 by Laura Harker Gov. Nathan Deal proposes a 2019 budget of $2.79 billion in state general funds for the Department of Community Health. This is an increase of $249.2 million from the 2018 fiscal year, mostly to replace non-recurring court settlement funds in last year’s budget and to offset a decrease in the federal matching rate for Medicaid. […] Read more » Budget Department of Community Health health medicaid Medicaid Expansion PeachCare Rural hospitals
Budget and Taxes Health Justice Higher Education K-12 Education Reports Overview of Georgia’s 2019 Fiscal Year Budget January 24, 2018 / February 26, 2021 by Taifa Smith Butler The $26 billion state budget proposed by Gov. Nathan Deal for the 2019 fiscal year starting July 1, 2018 lays out Georgia’s spending priorities for the coming year. It represents a $1.03 billion increase in total state spending over the 2018 budget approved last year. The budget is based on a very lean estimated growth […] Read more » Budget Budget & Taxes economy health Higher Education K-12 Legislature medicaid
Fact Sheets Health Justice Laura Harker Fast facts on Georgia’s coverage gap January 23, 2018 / January 14, 2020 by Laura Harker Updated Jan 17, 2019 Georgia’s Health Coverage Gap State lawmakers can put an insurance card in the pockets of 473,000 Georgians by bringing home money from the federal government to pay for coverage. About 240,000 Georgians make too little to get financial help to buy health insurance on the Marketplace and don’t currently qualify for Medicaid. […] Read more » coverage-gap Medicaid Expansion
Blog Health Justice K-12 Education Taifa Smith Butler Worker Justice Help Rural Georgians’ Health and Pocketbook January 15, 2018 / January 14, 2020 by Taifa Smith Butler | 1 Comment on Help Rural Georgians’ Health and Pocketbook Originally posted in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution Lawmakers appear poised to try something new to help struggling communities in rural Georgia and our neighbors from Blue Ridge to Thomasville are no doubt glad to receive the attention. Ideas floated recently by a state House study committee range from expanding broadband access to paying professionals to relocate […] Read more » EITC HOPE medicaid Op-Ed
Blog Health Justice Laura Harker Governor’s Vision for Georgia Omits Help for Struggling Health Care System January 12, 2018 / January 14, 2020 by Laura Harker Gov. Nathan Deal delivered his final state of the state remarks yesterday without addressing Georgia’s growing rural health care crisis. Six rural hospitals have shuttered since 2013 across the state, leaving holes in local economies, and more than half of Georgia’s remaining rural hospitals are financially vulnerable to closure. Opioid abuse and unmet mental health needs are decimating […] Read more » Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal health health coverage health-care medicaid Medicaid Expansion State of the State
