Georgia GOP moves backward on health care

[ProSense]

Georgia GOP moves backward on health care

Few states need the Affordable Care Act as much as Georgia. The Southern state has one of the highest rates of uninsured in the nation – roughly one in five Georgians lack coverage – and rural hospitals across the state keep permanently closing their doors.

And yet, few states are fighting harder to reject the ACA life-preserver. As Rachel explained on the show last night, it was an especially eventful day in Atlanta yesterday.

Lawmakers approved Tuesday night two anti-Obamacare bills that all but guarantee Georgia won’t expand its Medicaid program and that will prevent state agencies from helping consumers sign up for new insurance coverage offered under the Affordable Care Act.

Both measures are striking in their scope and their hostility towards expanding access to affordable medical care.

The first dealt with Medicaid expansion, which would bring coverage to about 650,000 low-income Georgians, and which was the subject of expansive progressive activism in the state capitol yesterday. Conservative policymakers didn’t much care.

- more -

http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/georgia-gop-moves-backward-health-care

[NightWatcher]

1. How far is the GOP from stationing a goon outside every doctors office

to whack you with a baseball bat when you try to go inside.

Excuse me, I've got a sore throat, is this the doctor's office? WHACK. No go home, die.

[randome]

2. Baseball bats are old school.

Melanin-detectors.

Good God, Georgia is stupid.
[hr][font color="blue"][center]There is nothing you can't do if you put your mind to it.
Nothing.[/center][/font][hr]

[Springslips]

3. They couldn't outlaw...

Say a private group helping people sign up for insurance under the ACA? It could be a way of creating liberal outreach in a red state.

[Hosnon]

4. As a Georgian, I'm grateful that Maddow is focusing on this issue.

Our population is too large and we have too many progressives to remain stuck in the past.

[Hoyt]

5. Blame it on the yahoos that elect these fools, too.

[Bandit]

6. I think as much or more blame should go to those people that just didn't bother to vote.

I think if we could get more people to actually vote we could chase those bastards from office. "Vote By Mail" would be a huge step toward doing just that. Every place that has put "Vote By Mail" into place has very high turn-out.

[Hoyt]

7. I agree. Unfortunately, the right wing legislators in office now aren't going to do that.

[BronxBoy]

8. Yet....

the legislators approved a last minute $17 million budget outlay yesterday to pay for a parking lot for the new falcons stadium. Gotta love these guys!

[napkinz]

9. Republican Death Panels

[napkinz]

10. Georgia GOP Gives State’s Children The Ultimate ‘Screw You’

Curtis F
March 22, 2014

Georgia Republicans Stopped Caring About the Lives of Children this Week

It’s not often that a person living in the Deep South state of Georgia is surprised by their legislators. After all, this is the state where a member of the Georgia GOP recently suggested lifting the sanction which prevented convicted sexual predators from loitering around schools and playgrounds. After the end of the 2013-2014 legislative season, though, not many forward-thinking individuals weren’t astounded by the level of immorality exhibited by their elected officials directed at children. If you read no other part of this, make sure you read the last section.

-snip-

Drug testing “certain” welfare recipients

Another law that was passed related to drug testing and welfare recipients. Although allowing guns just about everywhere in the state undoubtedly puts children in danger, this bill may directly prevent them from eating. While it may seem like a good idea to require drug testing for welfare recipients, it’s really the innocent children who will suffer based on their parents’ decisions.

In addition, when Florida implemented this law, it actually lost nearly $50,000 since the overwhelming majority of people passed the tests. Georgia politicians thought they could sidestep this issue by not requiring everyone to take the test. In fact, state officials will pick and choose who they think should be tested. Yeah, because this in no way will lead to any type of profiling. Very constitutional.

Taking Medicaid expansion from the voters

Georgia’s governor, Nathan Deal, has consistently said that he will not expand Medicaid in the state. Sadly, this affects the 220,000 children in Georgia who are uninsured. This is literally the fourth highest number of all states in America. Fortunately, a recent poll showed that Jimmy Carter’s Democratic grandson, Jason Carter, was leading the most unethical governor in America in the polls.

This, of course, meant that Medicaid would likely be expanded if Carter won. Well, being the party that cheats to get what it wants, the Republicans weren’t hearing of it. They passed a law that would strip the state’s governor of the ability to expand Medicaid. In turn, it put the decision into the hands of the overwhelmingly-Republican state legislative branches. The worst part? Nathan Deal says he supports it, so it seems as if the GOP in Georgia is willing to ignore the will of the people next election day.

read more: http://www.addictinginfo.org/2014/03/22/georgia-gop-ultimate-screw-children/