Hundreds of Georgians will die unnecessarily in the next 12 months from injuries suffered in car crashes, accidents on the job or in violent confrontations. Many, if not all, of those lives could have been saved with decent leadership in the Georgia General Assembly, which again this year placed political grandstanding ahead of public policy.

Two years ago, a legislative study committee looked into the state of Georgia's trauma-care network —- those hospitals scattered around the state with the equipment and trained personnel to handle victims of accidents and violence —- and found the system wanting. Experts told the committee that Georgia's trauma network was below the national average, and that 700 Georgians who lose their lives each year would have been saved in states with an adequate system.

But even with that knowledge, the 2007 legislative session closed with no significant action taken on trauma, largely because the issue got caught up in the first round of bickering between the House and Senate over tax cuts.

Late last year, as the financial crisis at Grady Memorial Hospital and its trauma-care unit deepened, the need to do something finally seemed to become apparent to state officials. In 2006 alone, Grady had been forced to write off more than $40 million in unpaid bills for care provided in North Georgia's only Level 1 trauma center. Grady's trauma unit has been a major financial drain on the hospital, which last year finished about $55 million in the red.

So as the 2008 session loomed, Gov. Sonny Perdue, House Speaker Glenn Richardson and Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle all pledged to find a source of money that would allow the state to offset some of the huge costs incurred by the 15-hospital trauma network in taking care of patients who can't pay for that expensive care.

Richardson, for example, announced prior to the session that he would push a $10 fee on vehicle license tags to pay for trauma services. In his supplemental budget, Perdue recommended raising Medicaid reimbursement rates for trauma services and passing a measure to impose $200 fines on "super speeders" —- those found guilty of exceeding the speed limit by more than 15 mph. Cagle said he too would back some permanent funding mechanism.

Their promises turned out to be meaningless. Once again, the goal of creating a permanent funding source for Georgia's troubled trauma network fell victim to the ongoing internal Republican dispute over taxes and egos. And while that failure lies at the feet of the two main combatants, Richardson and Cagle, Perdue shares in the blame for staying on the sidelines at critical moments.

In the end, the only step taken by the Legislature was to increase Medicaid payments for trauma care. That additional funding will help, but trauma hospitals will still be paid less than it costs to treat trauma patients covered by Medicaid.

The most workable solution —- Richardson's idea for the tag fee that would have generated $75 million annually —- got tied to his plan to eliminate the state property tax on vehicle registrations. Richardson let it be known that the trauma funding proposal would not become law unless the tax cut became law as well. Cagle, who wanted an income tax reduction, talked piously about trauma care, but it clearly was not a high priority for him.

In fact, Cagle was in some ways more harmful to the cause than Richardson. He rejected the legislative study committee's plans for how to pay for trauma care, responding with ideological gibberish about a dedicated funding source becoming an entitlement for hospitals. (To some Georgia Republicans, any program aimed at providing health services to the poor and uninsured is an "entitlement"; an "incentive," on the other hand, is what they give insurance companies and others in the form of tax breaks.)

Still, on the last day a potential compromise emerged. Under that plan, the tiny property tax levy the state imposes on homeowners, about $90 million annually, would be used for trauma funding. And although that idea likely would have gained widespread support had it made it to the floor of either chamber, it never got there. (Polls showed Georgia voters overwhelmingly endorse a special fund for trauma services.)

Instead, trauma funding died on the table, victimized by Republican gang warfare over the competing tax plans, neither of which passed.

What happens now? The state's trauma commission will decide how to parcel out the additional Medicaid funding among the network hospitals. Once that formula is known, trauma directors and hospital boards and administrators will have to decide what services to keep providing. Some may turn to local county commissions for financial help.

Most members of the network, including Grady, will no doubt continue to shoulder the burden as a moral responsibility. Legislators know that, which is how they avoid their own moral responsibility and continue stiffing network hospitals with millions in unpaid bills.

Someday, with a General Assembly more focused on the state's needs and less dominated by political posturing and egos, a long-term solution to the state's troubled trauma network could emerge. But that will require attention from voters in November and in subsequent statewide elections. The leaders of this session should be held accountable for their abject failure on this vital state issue.

—- Mike King, for the editorial board (mking@ajc.com)