Today, Congressman Sanford Bishop and storytellers launched Protect Our Care’s “Sick of It! Fix Health Care Now” campaign in Georgia, a multi-month effort giving voice to the millions of Americans sick of Trump and Republicans in Congress gutting our health care. Speakers demanded action from lawmakers and called for solutions to lower costs, lower barriers to care, and fix our broken health care system.
Georgians are fed up with the growing health care crisis after Trump and Republicans slashed more than $1 trillion from Medicaid and gutted Affordable Care Act tax credits to bankroll tax breaks for billionaires and big corporations. Since then, more than eight million people, including an estimated 266,972 Georgians, have lost the coverage they relied on to see a doctor when they’re sick, while costs have skyrocketed for millions more. Over 1,000 hospitals, nursing homes, maternity wards, and other providers are closing, cutting essential services, or facing the risk of closure or cuts. These are critical providers like Flint River Community Hospital in Montezuma. Read more about the damage and harm Republican health care cuts are causing Georgia families here.
“Depending on how close you are to Columbus, Albany, or Americus, it may take you 65 minutes to get to a hospital. And if you’re having a stroke, guess what? You will probably expire on your way to the hospital,” said Tonza Thomas, Columbus resident and longtime community advocate. “Throughout my organizing years, I met with countless families who are not asking for special treatment. They’re just asking for peace of mind knowing that they can get to the doctor. That’s why I believe health care is a civil rights issue. Access to health care affects opportunity, economic security, and quality of life. When people cannot afford to see a doctor, fill a prescription, or receive lifesaving treatment, they lose more than their health. They lose opportunities, stability, and peace of mind.”
“As health professionals and future health professionals, we’re taught that prevention is always better than crisis. The same principle applies to health policy,” said Hridith Sudev, Executive Director of H-STAT Georgia and a Doctor of Public Health student at Mercer University. “We should be investing in primary care, strengthening rural health systems, supporting community health centers, and making coverage more affordable before more hospitals close, more clinicians leave, and more families fall through the cracks. Georgia families deserve a health care system that is built around patients, not barriers.”
“I have seen patients lose limbs because they could not afford medication or wound care,” said Clay County physician Dr. Karen Kinsell. “I have seen people die because they could not get cancer treatment. I have seen families avoid the doctor until an emergency sent them to the hospital. This also hurts the entire health care system. Hospitals cannot keep their doors open when more and more patients have no way to pay. Fifteen Georgia hospitals and clinics are at-risk, announced cuts, are closing, or have closed.”
“This campaign is about bringing people together—patients, providers, advocates, faith leaders, community organizations, and elected officials—to demand a health care system that puts people first,” shared Protect Our Care Georgia Director Liz Ernst. “It’s about elevating the voices of those living this crisis, sharing their stories, and building a movement for solutions that lower costs, protect affordable coverage, and ensure every Georgian can get the care they need when they need it.”
Congressman Bishop said “When people lose coverage, they do not stop getting sick. They delay care. They skip medicine. They show up in emergency rooms sicker and more expensive to treat. And then hospitals, clinics, and providers, especially rural and safety-net providers, are left carrying more uncompensated care. That is why I opposed H.R. 1 and these reckless Republican health care cuts. We should be lowering costs, not raising them. We should be strengthening Medicaid, not gutting it. We should be protecting rural hospitals and safety-net providers, not pushing them closer to the brink. So today, I am proud to stand with Protect Our Care and with Georgians who are sick of these attacks on health care and ready to fix what is broken.”
