Georgia's health insurance coverage and population health statistics

¶ … Georgia (http://Www.healthcare.org)

What does the website reveal about health insurance in the state?

According to the website healthcare.org, the state of Georgia has one of the percentages of insured persons in the United States, even after the passage of the ACA (Affordable Care Act). "About 18% of Georgia's residents lack health insurance coverage, which is a very high number, above the national average" (Georgia health insurance, 2014). Part of this may be due to the fact that such a low percentage of employers offer insurance: most Americans do not purchase their insurance on the open market but rather acquire it as a condition of their employment. "Approximately half of Georgia's employers offer health benefits to its employees, and most of the employees take advantage of these benefits offered. Nevertheless, Georgia's division of public health, and Georgia's department of insurance need to come up with more options to offer more alternatives to those who have no current access to health insurance coverage" (Georgia health insurance, 2014). Once the ACA takes effect, theoretically more employers may be required to extend health benefits to employees (depending on the state's enforcement of the law) but the website still suggests that more creative responses are needed to address Georgia's healthcare deficits.

Q2. What is listed about general health statistics of population in the state?

The health statistics about Georgia are listed as below average compared to the rest of the U.S. population. There is a great divide in terms of access to care based upon geography and relatively few physicians are based in George, relative to the concentration of the population in the state.

Q3. What is the state's health ranking?

Despite some positive developments, Georgia ranks 41st of all states, in terms of health ranking.

Q4. Does the ranking have any correlation to health insurance?

Health insurance is a major component of why it ranks so low.

Q6. What health statistics surprise you?

The most surprising health statistic for me was the fact that Georgia has such a high rate of infectious disease. Given the large number rural areas within the state, I would not have thought that there would have been such a high rate of disease transmission "with 29.4 cases per 100,000 residents within the state" (Georgia health insurance, 2014).

Q7. Would you be able to access a health insurance price quote? If yes, what guidelines are provided? If not, why not?

To get a health insurance price quote, I would have to register on the federal healthcare exchange -- however, I would have to give my social security number to do so and other identifying details and I do not currently wish to purchase insurance through the exchange.

Q8. List the state legislator(s) that sit(s) on the health committee.

According to the state of Georgia's website, the Health and Human Services committee consists of the following lawmakers:

Unterman, Renee S (Chairman)

Balfour, Don Vice (Chairman)

Millar, Fran (Secretary)

Hill, Judson (Ex-Officio)

Burke, Dean (Member)

Butler, Gloria S. (Member)

Carter, Buddy (Member)

Henson, Steve (Member)

Hufstetler, Chuck (Member)

Jackson, Lester G. (Member)

Ligon, Jr., William T. (Member)

Orrock, Nan (Member)

Shafer, David (Member)

Q9. What is the state's position on health care reform? What is/was the support for reform? Is the debate ongoing?

Georgia has strongly resisted the ACA (Affordable Care Act). Despite the high rates of poverty and low rates of coverage, "Georgia opted out of the opportunity to expand Medicaid…the opportunity to expand the insurance marketplace through an exchange was not something they were interested in participating in at all" (Ragusea 2014). Residents of Georgia must go on the federal exchange to purchase insurance. However, a recently-introduced bill in the state legislature eliminated a navigator program to inform people of their right to healthcare and to help them sign up for insurance. The proposed bill would also forbid Georgia's insurance commissioner to enforce federal requirements about coverage under the ACA, such as the requirement that companies offer basic health screening and allow parents to keep their adult children on their insurance until age 26. This is considered especially disappointing given the low rates of access to preventative care in the state (Ragusea 2014).

Q10. What do you anticipate will be the influence of health care reform on your practice in this state?

Georgia seems likely to continue to resist the push for healthcare reform in the state. Not only has Georgia refused to expand Medicaid, the health insurance program for the poor which could potentially increase coverage to the state's working poor: the new bill would effectively refuse to enforce the ACA, even though the ACA is the law of the land. This would mean that Georgia insurance companies might simply ignore aspects of the law demanding that residents be given comprehensive, fair coverage when they purchase insurance.

Because of the failure to expand Medicaid and the high-risk nature of the population, Georgia healthcare coverage is also extremely expensive. For example: If "Lee Mullins lived in Pittsburgh, he could buy mid-level health coverage for his family for $940 a month. If he lived in Beverly Hills, he would pay $1,405. But Mullins, who builds custom swimming pools, lives in Southwest Georgia. Here, a similar health plan for his family of four costs $2,654 a month" (Rau 2014). In other areas, "government subsidies are shielding people with low and moderate incomes from the full cost of the premiums" but in Georgia this is not the case and even many middle-class consumers are electing to pay the penalty mandated by the ACA rather than seek out expensive coverage with very high deductibles that they are unlikely to exceed (Rau 2014). The fact that Georgia has such variation in terms of its premiums -- "southwest Georgia, had premiums for the cheapest 'silver' plan that were double those in three other regions, including metro Atlanta" -- has soured significant population bases towards the ACA in general (Miller 2013).