Local Voices. Statewide Impact. Stay Informed with Georgia News
- Access and affordability drive voter concern; Georgia faces provider shortages, transportation barriers, and hospital closures.
- High out-of-pocket costs force patients to choose between basic needs and health coverage, worsening illnesses and increasing ER reliance.
- Lawmakers expanded programs: residency slots, maternal home visiting, Medicaid rate increases, AI limits, and surprise ambulance billing protections.
- Community healthcare workers need certification and Medicaid reimbursement to bridge access gaps and build trust in underserved areas.
Julianna Ferrone will never forget the day in July 2020 when she felt the bloating, back pain, and abnormal bleeding.
It changed her life forever.
“I was 27 years old when I got the news that I had cervical cancer,” Ferrone said. “I was having difficulties finding a doctor, and if I did get into a doctor, I wasn’t being taken seriously.”
t was a gut punch for the Conyers native, who lived in Opelika, Alabama, at the time. Ferrone said she had to drive 70 miles one way for care, before she moved to LaGrange to get closer to the City of Hope Cancer Center in Newnan to get treatment.
“Where you live should not affect whether you live or not,” Ferrone said. “It’s extremely frustrating when you spend so much time looking for treatment, because when you’re sick, you don’t have the energy to do so.”
Natasha Taylor, deputy director of Georgia Watch, said a lack of access to healthcare continues to plague the state.
“There’s already an issue in rural Georgia with provider shortages, hospital closures, transportation, getting to care,” Taylor said. “Now you’re talking about not affording care as is. That’s going to limit people going to the doctor and getting their prescriptions, which is, in turn, going to make people sicker and force people into those ER situations. That creates more of a burden on the limited hospitals you have.”
Taylor said Georgia lawmakers have made progress, such as creating more residency slots, plus an easier path for internationally trained doctors to get their licenses in the Peach State. Lawmakers have also limited the use of artificial intelligence in insurance coverage decisions and prevented surprise ambulance billing.
State lawmakers expanded the maternal home visiting program to more than 30 counties and added funding for Medicaid reimbursement rates for primary care, dental care, and nursing homes.
Taylor said she would like to see greater transparency in healthcare pricing and a more intentional effort to certify community healthcare workers to further address the state’s provider shortage. She said these community healthcare workers are key to bridging many gaps in the system, because they’re largely trusted and help break down barriers between patients and doctors.
“Right now, you’re talking about a workforce that’s really valuable, but only grant-funded,” Taylor said. “So if we could get to a state where they’re reimbursed for their services through Medicaid or other insurance providers, then I think we can really help start closing some of the gaps in access to care that exist here in the state.”
“People are employed, but they have to make a choice between paying their rent and paying to put food on the table or paying for health coverage,” Taylor said. “Across parties, I think the biggest issue for people is, ‘ Am I going to pay my mortgage or am I going to pay for my health insurance?’”
For its part, City of Hope has worked to make travel and logistics easier for patients, exploring ways to bring healthcare closer to patients.
Patrick Brown, vice president of business development at City of Hope, said the cancer center partnered with Upson Regional Medical Center to coordinate care. Through the partnership, City of Hope will send a medical oncologist and other resources to Thomaston and the surrounding area to improve access to care for rural patients.
“It’s difficult and challenging at times for patients to leave the comfort of home,” Brown said.
“It’s the patients, oftentimes that suffer due to these challenges. Rural hospitals, they face similar challenges of limited resources both for hospitals and the patients; there are financial barriers patients are up against, and then just overall logistical challenges.
“Oftentimes, these patients give up because they think there’s no hope in sight or don’t know where to go, or don’t think they can go there.”
The issue of healthcare will be on many voters’ minds at the ballot box. Julianna Ferrone has already made it her mission to continue advocating for preventive, affordable, and accessible care. She’s visited the Georgia Capitol several times to pitch her message to lawmakers.
After 27 rounds of radiation every 21 days for over three years and a recurrence of cervical cancer, Ferrone said she was ready to take her fight even further than she thought she could.
“We’re literally talking life and death here,” Ferrone said. “You know your body. You know when something’s not right, and when you get such an earth-shattering diagnosis like that, you have to be proactive and advocate for yourself and your health.”
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