Gov. Nathan Deal (click here) said Tuesday that he will not expand Georgia's Medicaid program under the federal Affordable Care Act — which would have provided an estimated 650,000 low-income Georgians with health coverage. Above, Francel Kendrick works at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta.
Posted: 7:08 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 28, 2012
By Daniel Malloy
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
...“No, I do not have any intentions of expanding Medicaid,” Deal said. “I think that is something our state cannot afford. And even though the federal government promises to pay 100 percent for the first three years and 90 percent thereafter, I think it is probably unrealistic to expect that promise to be fulfilled in the long term, simply because of the financial status that the federal government is in.”...
But U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., called Deal’s decision “smart.”...
...Timothy Sweeney, the director of health policy at the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute, which advocates for new revenue sources over budget cuts, said the fuss is too great over a relatively small portion of the state’s yearly budget. The estimated $450 million yearly tab would have been 2.3 percent of Georgia’s most recent budget of $19.3 billion.
...Timothy Sweeney, the director of health policy at the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute, which advocates for new revenue sources over budget cuts, said the fuss is too great over a relatively small portion of the state’s yearly budget. The estimated $450 million yearly tab would have been 2.3 percent of Georgia’s most recent budget of $19.3 billion.
“That is hardly a number that should be considered blowing a hole in the state budget,” Sweeney said. “And it doesn’t look at the impact beyond the expansion on the economy of those billions of dollars going to health care providers, the impact on the health care system of a dramatic reduction of uncompensated care and making the system more efficient.”...
In all honesty, it doesn't look like bankruptcy to me. The Republicans have very strange priorities.
Posted: 7:47 a.m. Monday, Jan. 13, 2014
By Misty Williams
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Posted: 4:56 p.m. Monday, Jan. 13, 2014
By Misty Williams
...The NAACP and other liberal groups (click here) staged the “Moral Monday” rally, an offshoot of a movement that started in North Carolina. One of the group’s goals is to promote Medicaid expansion in Georgia.
“Make them hear you,” North Carolina NAACP President Rev. William Barber told the crowd. “Don’t make a deal with injustice. Do what is right.”...
Here we go with really lousy Republican Priorities and their political misguidance to the public. The Washington Post (click here) is reporting the new budget released to fund the government for the rest of the year cuts $1 billion from the "Prevention and Public Health Fund. Below is a statement by the "Prevention and Public Health Fund":
Here we go with really lousy Republican Priorities and their political misguidance to the public. The Washington Post (click here) is reporting the new budget released to fund the government for the rest of the year cuts $1 billion from the "Prevention and Public Health Fund. Below is a statement by the "Prevention and Public Health Fund":
The United States (click here) has the potential to have one of the healthiest populations in the world, but we currently spend too much and achieve too little. Our per capita health spending is more than twice the average spent by other industrialized nations, but we rank 24th out of 30 such nations in terms of life expectancy. Also striking is the fact that only 3 percent of our health care spending is focused on prevention and public health, when 75 percent of our health care costs are related to preventable conditions.
The Affordable Care Act took an important first step toward addressing these issues by creating a mandatory fund, the Prevention and Public Health Fund. By law, the fund must be used “to provide for expanded and sustained national investment in prevention and public health programs to improve health and help restrain the rate of growth in private and public health care costs.”...
One of the most important aspect of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is to promote good health and preventive care to BEND DOWN THE CURVE of the cost of USA health care. The very last place Congress should be cutting spending are those programs designed to bring down health care costs. In bringing down the cost of health care there will be monies returned to the USA economy to support other economic venues and expand further the opportunities for American employment, saving and achieving the American Dream. Republicans have really lousy priorities that feed Wall Street and deprive the American people their opportunities to be happy and live an enjoyable life. Differently stated, the Republicans feed Wall Street at the expense of "Quality of Life" of citizens of this country.
One of the most important aspect of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is to promote good health and preventive care to BEND DOWN THE CURVE of the cost of USA health care. The very last place Congress should be cutting spending are those programs designed to bring down health care costs. In bringing down the cost of health care there will be monies returned to the USA economy to support other economic venues and expand further the opportunities for American employment, saving and achieving the American Dream. Republicans have really lousy priorities that feed Wall Street and deprive the American people their opportunities to be happy and live an enjoyable life. Differently stated, the Republicans feed Wall Street at the expense of "Quality of Life" of citizens of this country.
