Today, Slick Rick Jackson continued to say he would oppose full Medicaid expansion that would keep rural hospitals open and lower health care costs for Georgians. Instead, Jackson supports maintaining the status quo – a system that led him to make more than $1 billion off of taxpayer-funded health care contracts.
The choice is clear: Keisha Lance Bottoms is the only candidate who will get to work on day one to expand Medicaid, protect Georgia’s rural hospitals, and ensure more Georgians have access to affordable health care. Rick Jackson has a clear record opposing Medicaid expansion, supporting the failed Pathways program, and backing the Big Ugly Bill which has already forced 500,000 Georgians to drop their ACA health care coverage after their premiums skyrocketed.
Jackson has made a fortune off of Georgia’s broken health care system. He has made nearly a billion dollars in no-bid state contracts for his health care company and was caught signing a new, secret contract with the state that will allow him to continue profiting as governor. Just last month, he was exposed for giving a predatory loan to an Alabama hospital that was at risk of closing because the state did not expand Medicaid. Jackson also dismissed the consequences of not expanding Medicaid in Georgia.
Since launching her campaign, Keisha has been focused on expanding access to affordable health care, protecting Georgia’s hospitals, and has pledged to get to work on day one to expand Medicaid in Georgia. Earlier this year, she announced her CARE Plan for a Healthier Georgia, which will expand Medicaid, protect rural hospitals, and invest in recruiting and retaining more health care workers.
“It’s no wonder that Slick Rick Jackson continues to oppose real Medicaid expansion: Because he has made nearly $1 billion off of no-bid taxpayer funded health care contracts, while rural hospitals close and Georgians pay more money for less health coverage,” said TaNisha Cameron, Keisha for Governor campaign spokesperson. “Keisha Lance Bottoms is the only candidate in this race who will expand Medicaid, protect Georgia’s hospitals, and stand up to the reckless policies coming from Washington that are threatening Georgians’ health care.”
