Mental health reform becomes law as legislators take other issues down to the wire

Bills on vaping, lead poisoning, school recess, and post-pregnancy Medicaid coverage all hung in the balance Monday as the Georgia General Assembly convened for its final day. As usual, dozens of health care bills were filed and debated in the 2022 legislative session. But the highest-profile proposal again took the spotlight early Monday afternoon, when…

Commentary: Don’t ease state gun restrictions

The Georgia House on Wednesday approved a bill that would allow an individual to carry a concealed handgun without first getting a license from the state. Senate Bill 319 is one of a handful of gun proposals introduced in the Georgia General Assembly this year. Georgia pediatricians have concerns about the potential effects of these bills…

We oppose loose Georgia laws on carrying guns

By Dr. Hugo Scornik As the organization that represents over 1,800 pediatricians and pediatric subspecialists in Georgia, our Georgia Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has watched with dismay the advance of several permissive gun bills in this year’s state legislative session. This is especially true of our brave pediatric emergency medicine and…

‘Heartbreaking’ delays for autism diagnosis and treatment

By Andy Miller and Jenny Gold Wylie James Prescott, 3, had to wait more than a year after his autism diagnosis to begin behavioral therapy, even though research shows early treatment of autism can be crucial for children’s long-term development. His mother, Brandie Kurtz, said his therapy wasn’t approved through Georgia’s Medicaid program until recently,…

Senate backs longer Medicaid benefits for post-partum women

The state Senate unanimously approved a bill Monday extending Medicaid coverage from six months to a year for low-income post-partum women. The legislation aims to address Georgia’s high rate of maternal mortality — women’s deaths related to pregnancy. Medicaid, the federal/state program for low-income and disabled residents, covers more than half of the births in…

Covid vaccination rates among young children lag in Georgia, South

By Rachana Pradhan, Hannah Recht and Andy Miller Two months after Pfizer’s Covid vaccine was authorized for children ages 5 to 11, just 27% have received at least one shot, according to Jan. 12 CDC data. Only 18%, or 5 million kids, have both doses, Kaiser Health News reported. In Georgia, as well as other Southern states, the percentages…

State says technical ‘reporting errors’ caused data gap on kids’ Medicaid referrals

State officials say “reporting errors’’ from the government led to recent data indicating that Georgia had a stunningly low rate of referring poor kids under Medicaid to specialty medical services. “We’re certainly not below every single state’’ when it comes to referrals, Ryan Loke, deputy commissioner of the Department of Community Health, told the agency’s…

Mounting deaths fuel school bus drivers’ Covid fears

By Andy Miller and Phil Galewitz Natalia D’Angelo got sick right after school started in August. She was driving a school bus for special education students in Griffin-Spalding County School System about 40 miles south of Atlanta and contracted Covid-19. One of her three sons, Julian Rodriguez-D’Angelo, said his mother, who was not vaccinated against…

School-aged children at center of latest Covid surge in state

About 60 percent of current Covid outbreaks in Georgia are occurring in K-12 schools across the state, public health officials said Tuesday. That’s seven times more than the child outbreaks in previous virus surges, Cherie Drenzek, the state epidemiologist, told the board of the Department of Public Health. Cases, hospitalizations and deaths among children have…

Georgia’s vaccine rate rises amid COVID spike; incentives coming?

Editor’s note: An earlier version of this article reflected figures from another news organization that have since been revised. As the Delta variant drives a relentless COVID-19 surge, Georgia’s vaccination rate has picked up steam. A Washington Post analysis, based on CDC data, reported Tuesday that the state’s rate of new doses administered climbed 26…