This November, Georgians will elect a new governor. The race between Secretary of State Brian Kemp, a Republican, and Stacey Abrams, a Democrat and former House minority leader, has already featured debate between them over the future of health care in the state. Georgia Health News recently asked the candidates about their views on several…
Tax credits and health care have recently occupied a prominent place in Georgia politics, thanks to the success of a program that helps rural hospitals. Donors to these Georgia facilities can now get a 100 percent state tax credit for these contributions. But there’s another potential tax credit that could have a positive impact on…
A new analysis finds major variations between the estimates of people with pre-existing conditions in U.S. metropolitan areas – even within a state. Those disparities can be seen in the two Georgia areas studied. The Kaiser Family Foundation analysis, released this week, found that 23 percent of non-elderly adults in the Atlanta/Sandy Springs/Roswell area have…
A southwest Georgia county that has just one physician is losing its only drugstore. Buy-Rite is shutting down its pharmacy in Clay County. The company says it has been losing money on the Fort Gaines drugstore for years. “It’s going to have a very profound impact on the city,’’ Brenda Hardemon, a funeral home employee…
Two of the four health insurers in the 2019 Georgia insurance exchange, in a surprising move, are set to make reductions in monthly premiums from the rates they offer this year. Such decreases in insurance rates rarely occur in health care. The overall premiums announced Thursday, as approved by the state insurance commissioner, show the relative…
After her daughter’s death last year, Helen Dennard says, “I went over the edge.’’ It followed other deaths in her family in recent years. Dennard, an Atlanta resident, found herself angry and depressed by the time she went to her regular Grady Health System physician for a checkup. “I had really given up on life….
Dr. Clarence Davis says the answer to the question is “a community health center.” Davis, senior medical director at WellCare of Georgia, takes the occasion of National Health Center Week to note how many disadvantaged Georgians use these centers, and how that care option saves money for the overall U.S. health system. The health of…
Among babies born in the United States each year, approximately 1 in 10 are born prematurely. And Georgia is in the group of states with the highest rates of preterm and low-birth-weight babies. Now, new data from the federal government show that the health of pregnant women and babies is only getting worse. The chances…
Dr. Jean Sumner likes to tell the story of how she once raised a woman “from the dead.” It happened years ago on a Thanksgiving Day when she was still working as a rural physician in the central Georgia town of Sandersville. “I was already dressed for dinner at my mother’s” when the call came in,…
The enterprise is nestled inside a nondescript office complex in Gwinnett County. No signage proclaims the nature of what’s behind the front door, and inside, there’s little in terms of furnishings or décor. Despite this unassuming façade, the Norcross office is the base for an operation that’s helping an increasing number of Georgians afford their…