Health reform plans would spend a lot for very little

By Dr. Harry Heiman Last month, Gov. Brian Kemp revealed two new health care waiver proposals. While they were presented as Georgia-focused solutions to improve health care access and affordability, the current proposals fail to meaningfully address either problem. Unfortunately, our state leadership is missing an opportunity to expand access to care, stabilize rural and…

Hospital transparency rules approved; state gives update on waiver, Grady flooding crisis

Story updated Despite objections from hospital groups, Gov. Brian Kemp’s administration has stuck to its tough financial transparency rules for nonprofit hospitals. The board of the Department of Community Health, meeting in Atlanta on Thursday, gave final approval to new financial requirements that hospitals must follow, including disclosing top salaries, property holdings and business ventures. State…

Fighting the doctor shortage in rural Georgia

This article is part of an occasional series on rural health care in Georgia. These articles are supported by a grant from the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation. Scott Bohlke is the only doctor practicing in Brooklet, a tiny town in southeastern Georgia. He has been working there for 21 years. “I didn’t do it…

Democratic debate focuses little on health care, but shows divide

In their previous debates, Democratic presidential candidates spent more time discussing health care than any other topic. But at Wednesday’s debate in Atlanta, health care was almost crowded off center stage by several other issues. The 10 Democratic candidates spent much of the two hours addressing topics such as the impeachment inquiry involving President Trump,…

Georgia’s HIV problem hitting rural areas hard

This article is part of an occasional series on rural health care in Georgia. These articles are supported by a grant from the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation. Metro Atlanta is often characterized as the epicenter of Georgia’s HIV crisis. Earlier this year, in fact, President Trump announced an anti-HIV plan targeting four populous counties in…

Georgia gets an ‘F’ grade in preventing preterm births

Johnecia Mason’s pregnancy was going along fine until at six months, she developed preeclampsia, a complication characterized by high blood pressure. Soon afterward, her son was born prematurely, at 26 weeks, weighing just 1 pound, 8 ounces. He died in the hospital 12 days later. “It was very hard,’’ Mason says now. “He was our…

Too little? Kemp’s proposal on changing Medicaid takes flak

During his gubernatorial campaign last year and his first months in office as governor, Brian Kemp declared that he would not expand the state’s Medicaid program. And in the second half of his waiver proposals, announced Monday, Kemp stuck to that position. The Republican governor’s plan, by setting tough eligibility requirements, would lead to only…

Georgia is debut location for Walmart’s ‘health center’

This Walmart in the western Atlanta suburbs looks at first glance like the retail giant’s other Supercenters. But the right edge of the long building in the town of Dallas has an appendage with a separate entrance, almost like a separate store. In a way, that’s what it is. Since September, the Paulding County Supercenter…

From prices to website, Kemp waiver plan would revamp individual insurance market

Just one of Gov. Brian Kemp’s waiver proposals was unveiled Thursday. But that one part, announced at the state Capitol, is still a lot to grasp. The so-called 1332 waiver proposal is designed to make fundamental changes in the health insurance system for individuals and families in the state. The goal is to make coverage…

Uninsured rate for Georgia children shows troubling rise

Georgia had a spike in its rate of uninsured children between 2016 and 2018, according to a report released Wednesday. The state in 2018 had an uninsured rate among children of 8.1 percent, up from 6.7 percent two years before. Only Tennessee’s rise of 1.5 percentage points was a greater increase in the U.S. over…