Yesterday, all Democratic members of Georgia’s U.S. House of Representatives delegation sent a letter to Georgia Governor Brian P. Kemp encouraging him to accept federal funds that can be used to expand Medicaid in an effort to stem the tide of hospital closures in the state. Wellstar Atlanta Medical Center is the latest hospital to announce its permanent closure, slated for November 1. In the last decade, 14 hospitals have closed in Georgia and the Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform estimates that another 19 Georgia hospitals are at risk of closure today.
In their letter, the delegation stated that, “this moment demands not simply temporary measures but foundational solutions. Medicaid expansion would not just help sustain hospitals like AMC but would also help bolster major medical centers like Grady Memorial Hospital, Atlanta’s remaining Level 1 Trauma Center. For regions like South Georgia, expansion will create life-altering opportunities for seniors, the most vulnerable and for real medical care.”
The letter went on to note that, “as elected leaders, we can not only act to prevent further closures but support medical facilities that are facing greater and greater burdens due to so many providers being shuttered. Any additional actions must also include working with local governments to alleviate the crisis, particularly given concerns already voiced at the local level that without intervention, counties may be forced to raise taxes to fund remaining medical centers.”
The COVID-19 pandemic created enormous strain on America’s hospitals, including those in Georgia. While Governor Kemp has accepted billions of dollars in American Rescue Plan Act federal funds to support efforts from improvements in wastewater systems and expanding rural broadband to compensating first responders, he has yet to act on federal funds to expand Medicaid which could help hospitals deal with the rising cost of treating the uninsured, especially during the pandemic.
You can read the complete letter here.
Original source can be found here.
