Georgia Health Insurance

How healthy is living in Georgia?

In 2007, Georgia continued its climb in the United Health Foundation's annual ranking of healthiest places to live -- it now ranks 40th, up three places from two years ago.

One of the areas it has made progress in is getting more of its citizens insured, shrinking its uninsured population to 17.7 in 2007 compared to 18.3 the year before. Among all states its an even bigger jump, going from 45th out of 50 states in 2006 to number 38 last year. However some of this gain may be attributable to other states having even more of their citizens lose insurance.

Bright points for Georgia include a low rate of binge drinking at 12 percent, making it 8th in the nation. That is, however, the only measurement where Georgia makes it into the top ten.

Low graduation rates -- only 61.2 percent of incoming ninth graders graduate in four years, possibly contributes to lack of insured adults. In addition, Georgia suffers from a high infectious disease rate (31.7 cases per 100,000) and infant deaths (8.3 per 1,000 live births). Actually, the infant mortality rate, while still too high, has dropped from a high of 12.6 percent in 1990.

In addition, in the last year smoking has come back down from a bump up in 2006 to settle back at 2005's number of 19.9 percent.

Georgia does not sponsor a state health insurance risk pool -- a program other states use so that people who can afford insurance but have pre-existing medical conditions that prevent them from being underwritten can still purchase insurance. While the percentage of population that use these in many states is tiny, it does allow some people to move jobs, or become self-employed, without fear of losing their coverage.

See the United Health Foundation's latest findings on Georgia.

Does Georgia have a risk pool for the uninsurable?

Risk pools are state-sponsored programs to help people with a history of medical problems in their family to purchase coverage. These pools are for people who can afford to buy health insurance, but are not able to get underwritten in the private market because of a pre-existing health condition. These programs can vary significantly from state-to-state in price, benefits and number of people served. Often insurance companies doing business in the state are required to contribute to the poolto keep it in the black. In the best cases they allow people to be able to switch jobs or become self-employed without the fear of losing their health insurance coverage. Find more on risk pools here.

Cover The Uninsured's guide on finding health insurance in Georgia

Cover The Uninsured is a national effort to highlight the fact that too many Americans are living without health insurance and to demand solutions from our nation's leaders. Read more information on its efforts. It is a project of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

• Cover The Uninsured's facts on the uninsured in Georgia.
• Its guide on how to find health insurance in Georgia.
• Materiales En Español -- Guías para encontrar cobertura de seguro de salud.

Georgetown University's Guide to Health Insurance in Georgia

Georgetown University's Health Policy Institute has researched and written state-by-state guides for finding and keeping health insurance. It updates these guides as federal and state policies change. A number of non-profit organizations contribute to funding its research. Find more on the Health Policy Institute.

• Georgetown's guide for Georgia.

News headlines on Georgia health insurance

Find the most recent headlines on health insurance in Georgia at Google News or Yahoo News.

Want single-payer health care? Concerned about the uninsured?
Contact your elected officials about health care issues

Contact your federal officials. Phone calls are best. Faxes are good, too. Since 9-11 postal mail creates long delays, and many members of Congress simply do not take e-mail seriously -- however, since e-mail is so easy it doesn't hurt to do that, too. Members of the Senate and Congress will usually ignore any correspondence that is not from their district, so its not desirable to blanket e-mail them (this type of abuse is why many do not view it favorably). The Electronic Frontier Foundation has a guide on how to contact your elected officials, including a valuable list of dos and dont's.

• Contact the White House
  Phone: toll free 1-800-671-7887 (ask for the Comment Line)
  FAX: 1 202-456-2461 (fax)
  E-mail:comments@whitehouse.gov
  
  
• Find contact information on your U.S. Representative
  Locate by using your ZIP Code
  Or if you know who your representative is, simply call the Capitol Switchboard toll-free at 1-800-962-3524

• Senator Johnny Isakson
  PHONE: 202-224-3643 (DC office)
  FAX: 202-228-0724 (DC office)
  Local offices
  Contact by E-mail

• Senator Saxby Chambliss
  PHONE: 202-224-3521 (DC office)
  FAX: 202-224-0103 (DC office)
  Local offices
  Contact by E-mail
  
  

Contact your state officials:

• Georgia Governor Sonny Purdue
  203 State Capitol
  Atlanta, Georgia 30334
  PHONE: (404) 656-1776
  FAX: (404) 657-7332
  Contact by e-mail
  
  
  
• Contact your Georgia State Senator
• Contact your Georgia State Representative

USNews health insurance rankings for Georgia

US News does an annual ranking of what it considers the best health insurance plans in each state. Visit its reports on various health insurance or medical insurance plans being offered in Georgia.

Official State Goverment Sites with Georgia Health Insurance Information

PeachCare for Kids is a Children's Health Insurance Program to expand coverage to children in low income families. It is not a Medicaid plan. The plan will pay for preventive services and acute medical care, as well as vision and dental care.

Georgia State Insurance Commission -- provides oversight of regulated industries, consumer protection, and broad-based educational activities.