Blog Health Justice Laura Harker Expanding Rural Hospital Tax Credit Won’t Cure Georgia’s Health Ailments September 26, 2018 / May 19, 2020 by Laura Harker Georgia lawmakers may consider boosting the state’s annual tax credit for rural hospitals from $60 million to $100 million when the new legislature arrives for work in January. The effort to bring more money to financially struggling rural hospitals is commendable, but evidence points to greater financial benefits for rural hospitals and higher return on […] Read more » health medicaid Medicaid Expansion rural Georgia rural hospital tax credit Rural hospitals
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 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
GBPI In The News Crippling Medicaid cuts could upend rural health services July 10, 2017 / January 14, 2020 by GBPI Admin Each day as Ginger Peebles watches daughter Brenlee grow, she sees the importance of having a hospital close by that delivers babies. Brenlee’s birth was touch-and-go after Peebles realized something was wrong. “I couldn’t feel the baby move, and my blood pressure was sky-high,” said Peebles, a nurse. Dr. Roslyn Banks-Jackson, then an OB-GYN specialist at […] Read more » Affordable Care Act medicaid Rural hospitals
Health Justice Laura Harker Reports Gutting Federal Health Law Imperils Georgia Families, Hospitals, State Budget June 22, 2017 / January 14, 2020 by Laura Harker The American Health Care Act (AHCA) proposes substantial cuts to Medicaid and changes in the insurance marketplace sure to jeopardize health care coverage for hundreds of thousands of Georgians, hammer hospitals statewide and shift significant costs to the state. The proposed upending of the federal health law passed the U.S. House of Representatives on May […] Read more » Affordable Care Act American Health Care Act health health-care Laura Harker medicaid Rural hospitals
Blog Health Justice Laura Harker Key Elements of an Effective Medicaid Expansion for Georgia Lawmakers to Consider August 31, 2016 / January 17, 2020 by Laura Harker Georgia approaches a critical juncture for leaders to remedy its strained health care system and close the insurance coverage gap through Medicaid expansion. State lawmakers sound more open than ever to accepting billions of federal dollars that can provide access to a doctor for hundreds of thousands of Georgians. Today, a Georgia Chamber of Commerce […] Read more » medicaid Rural hospitals
Blog Health Justice Laura Harker Charlton Ranks Among Georgia Counties With Dire Health Provider Shortages July 1, 2016 / January 15, 2020 by Laura Harker Nearly two-thirds of Georgia’s counties fall below the statewide average number of nurses, physician assistants, total doctors and primary care doctors per 100,000 residents. In many rural counties, shortages reflect financial ills in local health care systems, even hospital closures. Community health care cornerstones like Charlton Memorial Hospital closed across the state in recent years. […] Read more » medicaid Rural hospitals
Blog Health Justice Taifa Smith Butler Time to Remedy Georgia’s Health Care Provider Shortages June 30, 2016 / January 15, 2020 by Taifa Smith Butler As published in the AJC June 26, 2016 Georgia needs a health care system that is sustainable. The state needs to focus on promising solutions to its health care crisis and not waste time gazing in the rear view mirror at missed opportunities. When a hospital closes, as one in Ellijay did this month, it […] Read more » medicaid Rural hospitals
Health Justice Reports Timothy Sweeney Prescribing Remedies for Georgia’s Medical Provider Shortage June 16, 2016 / February 26, 2021 by Timothy Sweeney Local access to health professionals varies widely across Georgia, from relative availability in populous Fulton County to the daunting challenge found in many rural communities. State trends mask the nuanced differences among Georgia’s regions. Evidence indicates nearly two-thirds of Georgia’s counties fall below the statewide average number for each professional category of nurses, physician assistants, […] Read more » medicaid Medicaid Expansion Rural hospitals
Blog Featured Health Justice Laura Harker Several remedies show promise for Georgia’s health care provider shortage June 16, 2016 / February 26, 2021 by Laura Harker Last week, the North Georgia Medical Center in Ellijay, Georgia closed and left yet another county with a shortage of hospital beds. In light of this and other recent hospital closures, a newly released report from GBPI outlines potential solutions to Georgia’s ongoing struggle with lack of doctors, nurses and health staff to meet the […] Read more » medicaid Rural hospitals
