One nation, overcharged: Georgians pay the price for broken healthcare system

Amid skyrocketing prescription drug prices, unaffordable monthly insurance premiums and unexpected out-of-pocket costs for medically necessary care, too many Georgians are forced to make impossible choices when it comes to their health.

Do they pay the medical bill or the rent? Fill a prescription or buy groceries? Schedule a medical procedure or risk taking on debt they may never be able to repay?

Many Americans believe healthcare is a right, yet the U.S. system treats it as a commodity: available only to those who can pay.

This is not merely a matter of access or convenience. It is a matter of life and death.

Patients are using ER for primary care

Recently, I took care of a young mother who came into the emergency department for dangerously high blood sugar. She had been giving herself less insulin than prescribed to try to make her supply last until her next paycheck. This mother was lucky to arrive when she did, before falling into a coma or developing kidney failure, but ultimately, she didn’t want to stay in the hospital.

She didn’t have someone to watch her children, and she couldn’t afford to miss more work. We put a Band-Aid on her problem. We temporarily fixed her sugar, scheduled a follow-up visit, and she left to take care of her family. But I dread seeing her again in the emergency room, and I am angry that we have willingly created a system that prizes profits over people.

Stories like this have become far too common, as U.S. healthcare has grown more expensive over the past two decades. Even for people and families with insurance coverage, there’s not a lot of relief.

Recently, I took care of a young mother who came into the emergency department for dangerously high blood sugar. She had been giving herself less insulin than prescribed to try to make her supply last until her next paycheck. This mother was lucky to arrive when she did, before falling into a coma or developing kidney failure, but ultimately, she didn’t want to stay in the hospital.

She didn’t have someone to watch her children, and she couldn’t afford to miss more work. We put a Band-Aid on her problem. We temporarily fixed her sugar, scheduled a follow-up visit, and she left to take care of her family. But I dread seeing her again in the emergency room, and I am angry that we have willingly created a system that prizes profits over people.

Stories like this have become far too common, as U.S. healthcare has grown more expensive over the past two decades. Even for people and families with insurance coverage, there’s not a lot of relief.

Data show the average annual cost of a family insurance plan offered by employers now exceeds $37,000 for a family of four in the Atlanta metro area. Whether Georgians are paying for care directly, or employers are paying for coverage on their behalf, more money is being spent on healthcare than ever before.

For Georgians who get their health insurance through the Georgia Access marketplace, monthly health insurance premium costs increased by 25% to 114% in 2026 compared to last year. That means there’s a lot less money for everything else.

More than a third of Georgians skip or delay care

Healthcare costs in America are overwhelming, and the quality of coverage people receive regularly falls short. Nearly 60% of people in Georgia are enrolled in high-deductible health plans, a type of insurance that doesn’t begin covering medical expenses until people have spent an average of $3,000 out of pocket.

Coverage like this effectively means being uninsured for a good part of the year. It’s no surprise, then, that nearly one in six Georgia residents spend more than 10% of their income on out-of-pocket health costs each year.

What this means for the people of Georgia is that although they spend more on care, they’re getting less and less of it. Skipped or delayed care is now commonplace, with 36% of Georgians forgoing medical services because of cost.

Ironically, this may ultimately lead to more emergency room visits with higher costs than typical outpatient visits. At the same time, healthcare corporations and insurers post record-breaking profits without any sign of slowing down. In 2025, the four largest health insurance companies posted an average profit of more than $6 billion.

Time to reform the healthcare system

We need a drastic change. Everyone deserves healthcare, no matter their race, income or location. Healthcare is a right, not a privilege. Unchecked corporate power over the health of our nation has allowed that imperative to fall to the wayside. But those in Georgia and beyond have the collective power to say, “no more.”

It’s time to speak up. It’s time to demand change with a unified voice that is impossible to ignore. A new movement of healthcare advocacy, civil rights and racial equity organizations, alongside grassroots leaders, is building the coalition and platform to make that happen.

One Nation, Overcharged, a people-powered initiative for healthcare reform, came to communities around the country this summer, including here in Georgia. It’s giving a voice to the frustration millions of Americans share. And it’s inspiring a new wave of activists who are stepping up, speaking out and saying “enough is enough.”