There are ways to get this done. That should not be forgotten amidst all of the angst, deliberations, delays and obfuscation around how to bolster Georgia’s sickly health care infrastructure.
Rendering aid to struggling hospitals and providing some semblance of health care to roughly 500,000 uninsured Georgians is too critical to allow either dogma to postpone workable solutions any longer.
Yes, Obamacare is anathema among the state’s conservative Republican leadership. And this is an election year that’s rivaling Alice in Wonderland for fanciful visions on both sides of the aisle.
Yet, Georgia’s hospitals are still struggling — and failing. Dozens of counties lack adequate health care infrastructure. Emergency rooms are overburdened with uninsured — or under-insured sick people.
It’s encouraging that signs are emerging toward a possible way forward. Red states, including Arkansas and now Alabama and Louisiana, have found politically palatable ways to either sign on to the Affordable Care Act or create alternatives that increase insurance coverage.
State Sen. Renee Unterman, R-Buford, who began her career in nursing, made news recently when she boldly said during a broadcast interview that Georgia needed to find solutions for our dual health care woes. She’s correct in that fixing the problem will take time and require courage by lawmakers.
She elaborates on her ideas here today. Two Atlanta think tanks also offer insights around fixing Georgia’s way of health care.
Now’s the time to begin amassing data and formulating plans that can be debated and acted on during 2017’s Legislative session. Wasting more time will only squander money and lives.
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