Politics
Politics

Senate to meet on barriers to health care in Georgia

Sen. Renee Unterman, R-Buford, shown here in the state Senate in 2015, will chair a committee on barriers to access to healthcare in Georgia. BOB ANDRES / BANDRES@AJC.COM
Sen. Renee Unterman, R-Buford, shown here in the state Senate in 2015, will chair a committee on barriers to access to healthcare in Georgia. BOB ANDRES / BANDRES@AJC.COM
By
Sept 7, 2017

On Monday the Georgia Senate plans to hold its first study committee meeting on barriers to health care access in the state.

A star addition to the panel is Dr. Karen Kinsell, who runs a clinic in Clay County. Her clinic serves as the only real health care many residents there ever see.

She has often been interviewed by media over the years, but nothing hit home like a first-person narrative published online this summer by the national magazine The New Yorker. In it, she detailed the reality of uninsured patients in rural Georgia — and her reality as essentially a volunteer.

The committee will be chaired by Sen. Renee Unterman, a Republican of Buford, and includes some state health officials and practitioners. Its first meeting is to be held at 10:00AM at the Capitol in Atlanta and to overview nursing and provider shortages.

About the Author

Ariel Hart is a reporter on health care issues. She works on the AJC’s health team and has reported on subjects including the Voting Rights Act and transportation.

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