Tool Kit for Medicaid Expansion

You can help spread the word about Medicaid expansion on social media and through your networks! Leverage the resources below, tag social media posts with #coverga and link to https://coverga.wpengine.com to help your network take action. For example: Now is the time for Georgia lawmakers to support struggling rural hospitals, address the opioid crisis and provide health care access to 470,000 Georgians by expanding Medicaid. #coverga https://coverga.wpengine.com We can’t afford to wait State lawmakers can help 470,000 Georgians access affordable

Psychiatrist talking to patient with mental disorder and suicidal thoughts sitting on room floor

This National Suicide Prevention Month: how Medicaid expansion supports the mental health of Georgians

September is recognized as National Suicide Prevention Month One in four uninsured Georgians who also have low-incomes have a mental illness and/or addiction to drugs or alcohol. Right now, these Georgians often cannot access health services to help them recover except through our state’s limited mental health safety net. These Georgians–our friends and neighbors–could be covered and find better help if Georgia leaders expanded Medicaid to low-income adults.

The future of Medicaid expansion and health coverage in Georgia

Health care emerged as the priority issue for voters this election season. Historic voter turnout and engagement have highlighted the universal desire for affordable, quality health care. Every Georgian wants to be able to see a doctor when they get sick. Every community wants to safeguard their hospital and emergency room. Yet too many of Georgia’s rural hospitals have closed in recent years, and too many Georgians can’t afford health care. Georgia’s newly elected leaders will have the

hospital, profession, people and medicine concept - group of happy doctors at hospital

The Comprehensive Health Coverage Commission’s Work to Date: A perspective from the Cover Georgia coalition

Overview In the 2024 legislative session, Georgia lawmakers passed legislation creating the Comprehensive Health Coverage Commission (CHCC). Charged with exploring issues related to access and quality of health care for Georgia’s low-income and uninsured populations, the CHCC will convene over two years (ending in December 2026).  The Commission will advise the Governor, General Assembly, and Department of Community Health on its findings and potential solutions to improve health care access in Georgia through semi-annual reports. 

Study Links Medicaid Cuts to Increased Evictions, Highlighting Risks as Pandemic Protections End

A recent study published in Health Affairs reveals that a substantial reduction in Tennessee’s Medicaid enrollment almost two decades ago resulted in a significant surge in evictions, shedding light on potential consequences as states currently navigate the termination of pandemic-era coverage protections. The study gains importance as over 16.4 million Americans have been disenrolled from Medicaid since April when states were no longer restricted from terminating coverage with the end of the COVID-19 emergency. The

The 2020 Presidential Debate (IG: @clay.banks)

Shifting Winds: Republican States Reconsider Medicaid Expansion Amid Changing Political Landscape

The landscape of public health benefits in Southern Republican-controlled states is undergoing a significant shift, with House speakers in Alabama, Georgia, and Mississippi expressing the need to consider expanding coverage for low-income individuals through state-run health insurance programs. This departure from a long-standing resistance to Medicaid expansion and similar initiatives is influenced by various factors, including a historic realignment within the GOP that has seen more working-class voters aligning with the party, driven in part

Risky Medicaid Proposal Hurtles through State Legislature

Risky Health Proposal Hurtles through Gold Dome Updated Mar. 25, 2019. Flawed legislation to expand access to health insurance is hurtling through the state legislature, and hundreds of thousands of uninsured Georgians are being left behind. Senate Bill 106, the Patients First Act, passed the Georgia Senate on Feb. 26 and advanced to the House. The proposal could expand health insurance coverage to more Georgians, though an arbitrary restriction in the bill is setting Georgia up

Retired Clay County Teacher Struggles with Multiple Conditions

  Teresa began working as a teacher for the Headstart preschool program in 1994 but retired in 2010 because multiple health conditions made it difficult for her to work. Now her family’s only source of income is her husband’s monthly disability check, which is too high to allow him to qualify for Medicaid and too low to allow them to qualify for financial help to purchase private insurance through the Affordable Care Act. (Teresa cannot qualify

New survey data shows strong support for Medicaid expansion in Georgia across political party

Georgia Democrats have campaigned for Medicaid expansion over the past decade, with strong support among their voters. Georgia Republicans have been more hesitant to embrace the policy, which would allow low-income adults and parents to access health care through Medicaid. New polling commissioned by Georgians for a Healthy Future finds that the support for expansion today goes far beyond Democrats. A strong majority supports expansion, suggesting that expansion in 2022 would benefit incumbents running for