The legislative effort to “revolutionize” the not-for-profit health care delivery system in Georgia is set to run head-on into entrenched hospital interests that have crowed victory in defending a law that dates to 1979 and protects the status quo.
Tag: Health care
Posted inLatest News
As health care revisions loom at Capitol, credit rating cut for system near Macon
As state lawmakers look “revolutionize” health care delivery in Georgia, a hospital authority in a rural part of the state has faced a double whammy of a credit downgrade and a reaffirmation of a negative outlook on its ability to repay about $72 million of borrowing in 2007 to finance an expansion.
Posted inLatest News
Posting CEO pay of non-profit hospitals part of proposed reform of health system
Five CEOs are paid a total of more than $9 million a year to run non-profit hospitals in metro Atlanta, according to the hospitals’ latest available tax returns. These salaries, and other hospital financials, are to be made more readily available to the public as the part of a proposed effort by the state House to “revolutionize” health care delivery.
Posted inLatest News
Another crack in rural health care awaits incoming Gov.-elect Kemp
Another crack appeared in Georgia’s crumbling rural health system a few weeks before election day. The credit rating of a Brunswick-based hospital system was downgraded and New York analysts offered a dim view of a recovery.
Posted inColumns
No longer a GOP taunt, Obamacare becomes a Democratic battle cry
his is the time of year when sparring primary candidates tune up the messages their parties will carry in the fall. In Georgia’s 6th District, health care is front and center.
Posted inLatest News
Gov. Deal’s tweet on Piedmont/Blue Cross Blue Shield imbroglio spurs wider conversation
Gov. Nathan Deal has spurred a buzz on Twitter with his call for a meeting Monday with Piedmont Healthcare and Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield to resolve a breakdown in negotiations that has left thousands of patients out of network for care.
Posted inColumns
CEOs can do more to reduce healthcare costs than the government or insurers
By Guest Columnist SHANE JACKSON, president of Jackson Healthcare of Alpharetta
Warren Buffet, one of the most successful businessmen in U.S. history, has called the soaring cost of healthcare a “tapeworm” on the American economy. He and two other Wall Street giants, Jeff Bezos of Amazon and Jamie Dimon of JP Morgan, have announced a joint venture in an attempt to dramatically reduce the inflationary pressure on healthcare delivery.
Posted inColumns
Georgians, state treasury to suffer under President Trump’s budget plan
By Guest Columnist TAIFA BUTLER, executive director of the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute
Georgians can find a lot not to like in the federal budget President Trump is proposing. It jeopardizes the state’s financial stability. It promises to hurt the ability of millions of Georgians to meet basic living standards. Even Social Security disability benefits are slashed in the planned budget cuts.
Posted inLatest News
Gov. Deal creates commission to improve children’s mental health programs
Gov. Nathan Deal on Wednesday established a commission to evaluate Georgia’s approach to children’s mental health and recommend ways to improve it. The commission can pick up a study where a study completed in 2015 by a House committee left off.
Posted inColumns
Access to healthcare emerges as major issue in upcoming runoffs for state Senate, Congress
By Guest Columnist MELITA EASTERS, founding chair and current executive director of Georgia’s WIN List
While more recent headlines have pushed aside coverage of public reaction to the House GOP passed “repeal and replace” of the Affordable Care Act, passed during the administration of then-President Obama, there remains deep anger about the draconian nature of the legislation which may well turn the tide in two upcoming Georgia elections.
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Jackson Healthcare adding 1,400 jobs in North Fulton County via groundbreaking today
Gov. Nathan Deal and a host of civic and business leaders are slated to break ground this morning on a $100 million expansion of the headquarters of Jackson Healthcare, a healthcare staffing company that intends to add 1,400 employees over the next five years.
Posted inHigher Education, Thought Leader, Uncategorized
Could Medicaid Expansion Be a Boost to Rural Georgia’s Ailing Economy?
By Carolyn Bourdeaux and Peter Bluestone With the election of Donald Trump as president, the plight of rural America has taken on increased prominence. A September 2016 report by the Center for State and Local Finance estimated that as of 2014 rural areas in Georgia had 58,000 fewer jobs than they had in 2007 (around […]
Posted inGlobal Health & Development, Thought Leader, Uncategorized
Raising Our Voices: Championing the importance of global health on Capitol Hill
Loyce Pace, MPH, President and Executive Director, Global Health Council The Global Health Council is a member of the Georgia Global Health Alliance This period of time marks an important moment for global health. One in which our landscape is shifting. There is still a substantial need for global health investments and programs. We are […]
Posted inColumns
A generational walk through the health care debate
He’s a young, healthy guy with an independent streak, who may decide he doesn’t need health insurance when the government mandate goes away. She’s a 60-ish cancer survivor who depends on an Affordable Care Act subsidy for her continued medical care. You’ll be hearing a lot about them as the debate over the American Health Care Act unfolds.
Posted inColumns
Deserved raises, a lifeline for health care and a few pesky holes in Ga. 2018 budget
By TAIFA SMITH BUTLER, executive director of the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute
This is the week state lawmakers will really get down to the business of running Georgia, now that they’ve had time to dig into the governor’s spending plan and department heads wrapped up budget presentations to legislative committees.
Posted inLatest News
Emory says minorities, poor hurt by proposed changes in liver transplant rules
Emory University has come out against a proposed change in the national policy governing the distribution of livers for transplant. Emory doctors say could the proposals have a negative impact on minorities and poor folks in Georgia and the southeast in order to benefit folks in the northeast.
Posted inColumns
Piedmont Healthcare’s expansion spurs downgrade in credit outlook
Moody’s Investors Service has downgraded the credit outlook of Piedmont Healthcare in the wake of its acquisition of Athens Regional Medical Center. Analysts expressed concern over this part of Piedmont’s effort to hold or improve its position as the region’s second-largest health care provider, based on market share.
Posted inLatest News
In good news for Ga. health care, Brunswick hospital earns higher credit rating
One Georgia hospital has received some good news in the form of an improved credit rating from Moody’s Investors Services. The upgrade comes as Georgia this week launched an effort to help struggling hospitals.
Posted inTom Baxter
As more states accept Medicaid expansion, dumping ObamaCare could be harder than dumping Trump
For a foretaste of what might happen when Georgia finally calls a truce in the war against its own self interest and accepts the federal Medicaid expansion, let’s take a little trip down to the bayou.
Posted inLatest News
Grady Memorial Hospital wins top award for treating stroke
Grady Memorial Hospital’s comprehensive treatment of stroke has earned Grady a top award issued jointly by the American Heart Association and American Stroke Association.
