A.M. ATL: Health scare

Morning, y’all! I have a bone to pick (heh) with people who put up really, really scary Halloween decorations. According to folk traditions, such displays frighten away the actual goblins and ghoulies, but that’s probably not what most people are thinking when they arrange a full menagerie of horror on the front lawn.

Plus, for 11 months out of the year, you have to keep actual skeletons in your closet. Maybe not actual skeletons, but as close as you can get without being on a government watch list. 2Spooky4Me.

Let’s get to it.

GEORGIA’S RURAL HEALTHCARE CRISIS

The convergence of several factors has led to a growing number of uninsured, at-risk residents in rural Georgia. This ends up straining already-strapped hospitals and clinics, and presents untold dangers to those unable to afford care.

The one-two punch that’s spurred the crisis:

1. Major changes to Medicaid, the federal healthcare program for Americans in poverty, under the Trump administration
2. Congress’ decision late last year not to extend COVID-era enhanced subsidies under the Affordable Care Act (also known as Obamacare)

The consequences:

• Without Medicaid or ACA subsidies, low- and middle-income Georgians saw their health insurance premiums double or even triple over the last year.
• In an impossible situation, many have simply dropped their coverage. Roughly 400,000 Georgians have dropped their ACA coverage since last fall, according to state data.
• As a result, many wait until a major emergency to go to the hospital. In rural areas, those hospitals are likely already underfunded, and their staff overworked. That causes more debt for the facilities, more strain on staff and more limited access to care.

🔎 READ MORE: What rural medical groups are doing to step into the breach

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SEWAGE BACKUP AT ICE FACILITY

A sewage backup flooded parts of South Georgia’s Stewart Detention Center last week, which advocates say left some ICE detainees with restricted access to drinking water and showers and created unsafe conditions.

Here’s what Amilcar Valencia, director of El Refugio, an immigrant-serving Stewart County nonprofit, said in a statement:

• “People are calling us desperate for help. They are reporting raw sewage in their cells, no drinking water, and being told to clean up contaminated water without protective equipment. When the government chooses to detain people, it has a responsibility to ensure their basic health, safety, and dignity.”
• Another immigration attorney told the AJC he received reports of detainees needing to sweep the sewage away from affected areas. He said guards received rain boots, but not detainees.

Here’s what a spokesperson from CoreCivic, the Tennessee-based private prison operator that runs Stewart Detention Center, said of the incident:

• “All detainees have access to drinking water, functioning toilets and hot showers.”
• “Additionally, detainees who assisted with the cleanup efforts did so voluntarily and were provided with the proper equipment. Any claim to the contrary is false.”

This is not the first time accounts of conditions in the facility have differed between advocates or detainees and prison owners or immigration authorities.

🔎 READ MORE: Where things stand now

MUST-KNOW POLITICS AND BUSINESS

🎤 ICYMI, here are five takeaways from the Senate debate between Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff and his midterm challenger, Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Collins.

🚗 Waymo says its self-driving robotaxis are safer than human-driven cars, and they put together a study with data from several major cities, including Atlanta, to try to prove it. An interesting non-safety data point from the study: Waymo riders have clocked about 8.6 million miles on Atlanta’s streets.

WELCOME TO THE DREAM FINALS

The Atlanta Dream are in the WNBA Finals for the first time since 2013, and it’s gonna be a party.

The Who-What-When-Where:

The Atlanta Dream will face the Golden State Valkyries in a best-of-seven series beginning Oct. 17 at Chase Center in San Francisco.

That means we could get up to three home games here in Atlanta: Oct. 22, Oct. 24 and Oct. 29. More info on the Dream site here.

How they got here:

• The Dream punched their ticket to the finals by knocking off defending champs the Las Vegas Aces in a three-game sweep.
• If things go our way, this will be their first WNBA championship title.

Also: Putting aside talent, skill, hard work, expertise, a smidgen of good fortune; all of those things that make championship-bound teams what they are, we can also thank WNBA Defensive Player of the Year Angel Reese’s manifestation skills.

During last year’s WNBA finals, Reese tweeted “manifesting the finals.”

And look, she did that. 🔮

🏀 READ MORE: What to know about the Dream’s opponent

NEWS BITES

Five quick takeaways from the Falcons’ OT loss to the Ravens

It was raptor-on-corvid violence.

Surprise! Employers are looking for skills taught in liberal arts courses

This is not surprising to anyone with a liberal arts degree because said courses include things like “understanding social patterns,” “communicating ideas effectively,” “reading the room” and “not having to rely on AI to draft an email.”

Delta revenue continues to increase while fuel costs rise