This week’s Courier Herald column: We’re now just days away from Christmas. A week later is New Years. After a brief time to give resolutions an old college try, legislators will convene in Atlanta for a statewide election year session of the Georgia General assembly. It is with these tight deadlines in mind that I
When does the debate on abortion begin? Probably not with tax bills. Certainly not with tax bills if you are NARAL, which took issue over Karen Handel’s “pushing” the new GOP tax bill*. In other words: NARAL views Handel’s seat as vulnerable and on that we agree. In a statement released ahead of Thursday’s vote
Chris Carr, Georgia’s Attorney General, approved the sale of Milledgeville’s Oconee Regional Medical Center to Navicent Health Oconee LLC on Monday afternoon, according to the Union-Recorder. There had been rumblings about Oconee Regional’s financial health for at least the past four years. Hospital staff have cited an aging population, declining government payments, increasing numbers of uninsured
According to Georgia Health News, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Georgia will offer insurance on the Affordable Care Act exchange in 2018 in the counties that have no other options, ensuring that all Georgians who rely on the exchange to purchase health insurance will have the ability to purchase plans. Commissioner Ralph Hudgens announced the agreement
Monday night at a dinner with select Senators, in his typical bombastic way, President Trump said they — presumably meaning Senate Republicans and not Republicans in general to include him — would look like “dopes,” and also “terrible” and “weak,” if they didn’t pass the Better Care Reconciliation Act. Almost simultaneously, two Senators not at the meeting,
A couple of weeks ago, I wrote a post about Cornerstone Health in Walker County. The company that manages the hospital, ApolloMD, had sued Blue Cross Blue Shield of Georgia for not honoring contractually agreed upon reimbursements for emergency services. Now the county is on the hook for $8.7 million for a separate issue stemming
I’m sure Blue Cross Blue Shield of Georgia is beginning to hate me, if they didn’t already. (Oh, I’ll bet they did, though.) In my defense, if they’d just followed through on the promise made by incoming President Jeff Fusile in January 2016 to “soften the approach” and move away from the image of the
This week’s Courier Herald column. You can read the rest of this series by following this link. As we continue this series on the five geographic and economic regions that define the governing coalitions that control Georgia politics, it’s time that we consider the politics of health care delivery in the state. The Affordable Care
The Georgia Supreme Court is slated to hear oral arguments on “certificate of need” laws that have long been considered by many to be “anti-competition.” The case stems from an October 2014 attempt by two OB/GYN doctors, who own an outpatient surgery center in Bartow County, to expand their center. Initially, the doctors wanted to
Rural Southeast Georgia received a grand blessing Monday. Just days before it was set to be closed for good, Optim Medical Center-Jenkins has been sold. The purchase by GA Medical Holdings, Corp. means operations at the Jenkins County hospital in Millen will go on without interruption, an answered prayer for both the staff and members of the
