Health Insurance In Atlanta And The Rest of Georgia

 Although it is very basic and shouldn't even be an issue, the fact is that there are around 1.7 million people in Georgia who go about without the benefit of health insurance. The state has over eight million according to the latest figures. That means around 21% of the state's population do not have healthcare insurance. Of these uninsured 71% are income-earning adults or their dependents.

 

Georgia state officials admit that the ratio between the total population and the uninsured has already hit crisis level. In fact, they have even proposed legislation to make healthcare more affordable for Georgians. Of course, a lot of people in the state are without healthcare insurance because of the prohibitive cost of health insurance plans.

 

Some Hope

On January 31, 2008, Lt. Governor Casey Cagle announced the introduction of two healthcare initiatives in the state's legislature: the Healthcare Safety Net and the Georgia Health Marketplace.

 

Once approved, the two proposed legislations are hoped to significantly reduce the cost of health insurance in Atlanta and elsewhere in Georgia by creating a simplified free-market system. Currently, Georgians have to contend with the high cost of healthcare, and there are very few options to choose from. While there are health insurance providers that offer whole gamut of health insurance programs in Georgia, only very few happen to have very affordable healthcare programs, or HMO or PPO programs that are THAT affordable.

 

With the Healthcare Safety Net program, qualified patients who have non-emergency symptoms will be taken away from hospital ERs to community-based clinics that are run by volunteers. Under this program, communities themselves can initiate the establishment of a Safety Net Clinic by applying for a partnership planning grant of up to $30,000. The money can be used to start building facilities. Meanwhile, existing clinics serving indigent patients can each apply for implementation grants up to $150,000 a year, with a one-year renewal option of $50,000. The money will be used to run the clinics.

 

On the other hand, the Georgia Health Marketplace (GHM) is set to become an online clearinghouse where average Georgians can do all these things: (a) check information the different health insurance in Georgia, (b) compare healthcare products from different insurers (c) buy health insurance plans.