At issue are tax credits that lowered the cost of ACA plans that are set to expire Dec. 31. The credits were enacted as part of a Covid relief package in 2021. Unless Congress takes action to extend the credits, premiums for Georgians will, on average, more than double, a recent Georgia Health Initiative analysis found.

The enrollment deadline is Monday, Dec. 15, for coverage to begin Jan. 1.

The GHI analysis predicts that the higher costs would prompt about 340,000 of the 1.5 million Georgians who are enrolled in the ACA to go without insurance next year. The analysis is based on data showing how many people enrolled after the premium tax credits took effect.

Congress is set to recess for the holidays next week. On Thursday, a Democratic proposal to extend the subsidies and a Republican proposal to provide enrollees with additional funds for health care costs instead both failed on 51-48 votes in the U.S. Senate.

The exact amount of the rate increases will vary based on several factors, but on average, premiums in Georgia will more than double, from an average of $69 per month this year to $148 per month in 2026, according to the GHI report.

Many will likely “buy down” to lower-coverage plans that may have lower premiums, but higher out-of-pocket costs, the analysis said.

How will higher costs impact health care in Georgia?

People who make more than 400% of the poverty level (about $62,600 for a single person, or $128,600 for a family of four) will see the biggest increases if Congress doesn’t act, said Louise Norris, health policy analyst for Healthinsurance.org.

“All of a sudden they’re faced with full-price premiums, which are really high, depending on how old you are, and where you live,” Norris said. People making less than 400% of the federal poverty level will also see increases, she said.

Many people will opt to go without insurance, which will increase health care costs across the board, Norris said.

Employer-sponsored plans and Medicare plans have also set higher premiums for next year.

“When you increase the uninsured rate, you do drive up costs for everyone who still has insurance,” Norris said.

Anna Adams, senior vice president of government relations at the Georgia Hospital Association, said, “Hospitals will continue to provide high-quality care to all patients, regardless of their ability to pay, but the loss of coverage for many of those patients will have a substantial impact on hospitals’ ability to stretch already scarce resources.”

Many patients without insurance will turn to emergency room care, Norris said, for which they won’t be able to pay. That will cause hospitals to raise rates, which will drive up premiums for everyone.

Who is eligible for Affordable Care Act insurance and where to find plans in Ga.

U.S. citizens, nationals, or lawfully present immigrants who are not incarcerated can enroll in the plans. About 1.5 million Georgians, or around 13% of the population, currently use the plans.

Most of those enrolled do not have access to insurance through their employers.

To compare plans and enroll, visit GeorgiaAccess.gov. In the past, Georgians purchased their insurance through a federal website called the Marketplace. The state established its own portal last year.

What happens if Congress doesn’t extend the tax credits by the Monday deadline?

The rates listed on GeorgiaAccess are the rates that will take effect if Congress does not act, Norris said. She advises selecting a plan by Monday’s deadline.

“You can base your decision on those numbers. Pick a plan, but then don’t just tune out completely. Make sure you still keep an ear to whether or not anything is changing,” she said.

Congress could still renew the subsidies or agree to another plan to lower costs even after the deadline, retroactively.

What happens if you miss the Monday deadline to enroll?

Those who have health insurance through Georgia Access will be re-enrolled in the same plan or the most similar plan available for next year.

Aetna will not be offering ACA insurance in 2026, so those customers will be shifted to another company, said Bryce Rawson, a spokesperson for the Georgia Office of Insurance and Safety Fire.

Those who don’t already have health insurance and miss the Monday deadline can enroll until Jan. 15. But coverage wouldn’t start until Feb. 1.

What options are available for those who cannot afford health insurance?

Here are some resources available in Georgia for uninsured people.

• Many charity and low-cost clinics across the state operate on a sliding scale for low-income and uninsured people. Here are some directories to help find one near you.
• For DeKalb and Fulton residents, Grady Health offers financial assistance, often called a “Grady card,” for inpatient and outpatient care. For residents of other counties, Grady provides financial assistance for emergency services.
• Contact your health system or doctor and explain the situation. Hospitals are often able to write off debt, provide lower bills, or set up a payment plan. Just ask.
• Make sure you are being charged the lower “self-pay” rate rather than the insurance rate.
• Local public health departments offer an array of low-cost services, including vaccinations, many routine screenings like mammograms, and sexually transmitted infection prevention and treatment services.
• Eligibility for Medicaid varies. Typically, people who are eligible for the ACA are not eligible for Medicaid. Those who are eligible include:
• Children from low-income families
• Adults 19-64 with incomes up to 100% of the federal poverty level ($15,650) who work, volunteer, study, caregive or complete another qualifying activity for 80 hours per month.
• People with certain medical conditions or who are aged, blind, or disabled.
• Pregnant and post-partum women with low incomes.
• Parents of children under age 19 who earn very low incomes

Healthbeat is a nonprofit newsroom covering public health published by Civic News Company and KFF Health News. Sign up for their newsletters here.

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inStanding as City of Hope’s second location in the city, the newly-built center will offer numerous cancer services to residents based in Northern Georgia and Southern Tennessee.

Among the offerings the Buckhead facility will provide include consultations and care for a variety of cancers like breast, chest, lung, gastrointestinal, thyroid and others; connection to City of Hope’s national network (consisting of more than 2,000 physicians and researchers across five major markets); as well as access to services such as surgeries, outpatient procedures, infusions and radiation treatments through City of Hope’s specialty hospital in Newnan, Georgia.

“As more of the Greater Atlanta community recognizes the unique lifesaving services of City of Hope Cancer Center, we are pleased to expand cancer care to this new location,” says Jonathan Watkins, president of City of Hope Atlanta. “Just as we do throughout the City of Hope network, this location will deliver patient-focused services for cancer prevention, detection and treatment, with an emphasis on providing for people’s physical and emotional needs.”

City of Hope Atlanta says that an expansion of its services in the city was a necessary move, noting that cancer incidence rates in Georgia continue to rise above the national average, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“With cancer impacting one in three Americans and diagnoses happening earlier in life, convenient, expert and compassionate care is more important than ever,” said Kristin Higgins, chief clinical officer at City of Hope Cancer Center Atlanta. “Many of our patients are juggling work, family and a cancer diagnosis. Our goal is to ease that burden by offering comprehensive services — from prevention to the latest lifesaving treatments — right in their community.”

Physicians at the Paces Ferry location are currently available for “undiagnosed patients with a suspicion of cancer, newly diagnosed patients, those seeking a second opinion and ongoing,” said City of Hope Atlanta.

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Distribution began this fall in parts of metro Atlanta and in southwest and central Georgia. The initiative is expected to be completed statewide by spring.

“The opioid settlement funds give us a once-in-a-generation opportunity to turn tragedy into prevention,” Kevin Tanner, commissioner of the Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities, said in a statement announcing the distribution Friday. “Putting overdose reversal kits in every Georgia school is a practical, compassionate use of those dollars. It means we are giving our educators and communities a fighting chance to stop a preventable death.”

The Georgia Department of Education is partnering with Tanner’s agency to distribute training resources to school staff. State School Superintendent Richard Woods said the partnership will ensure every school is ready for an emergency.

The initiative comes after Senate Bill 395 became law last year. Sen. Clint Dixon, R-Buford, co-sponsored “Wesley’s Law” in memory of a family member who died of a fentanyl overdose. The law requires schools to stock naloxone — a product branded as Narcan or Evzio — and allows teachers and other school staff to carry and administer the medication on school property.

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A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention committee voted to eliminate a recommendation that all newborn babies receive a vaccine against hepatitis B, ending a policy that has been in place since 1991 to protect Americans against an incurable liver disease that can lead to cirrhosis, cancer and liver failure.

The current three-dose series for hepatitis B includes one vaccine administered to infants within 24 hours of birth, and subsequent booster shots given one month and six months after the initial dose. There was a 99% drop in serious infections among children between 1990 and 2019, which is attributed to the universal vaccination policy.

The agency will leave in place a recommendation that babies born to mothers who test positive for hepatitis B receive a vaccine at birth. However, the new guidelines leave the decision in all other cases to “individual-based decision-making.” They also suggest that parents delay the first dose of the vaccine for at least two months after birth.

Friday’s decision comes after an 8-3 vote from a key CDC advisory committee, known as the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, which is charged with setting national guidelines around which people should be vaccinated against a wide range of preventable diseases and when those vaccines should be administered. The recommendations play a key role in determining which vaccines insurance companies are willing to cover and how accessible those immunizations are to the public.

Retsef Levi, an ACIP member and professor of operations management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, called the updated recommendation a “very positive change in policy.” arguing that blanket vaccine recommendations force newborns to serve as “a safety net for adults’ mistakes.”

But Dr. Cody Meissner, another member of the committee who also serves as a professor of pediatrics and medicine at Dartmouth College, argued that there was no scientific evidence to support the changes implemented by the panel.

“Thoughtful inquiry is always commendable,” he told the committee. “But that inquiry should not be confused with baseless skepticism, which is what I think we’re encountering here.”

The updated recommendation for the hepatitis B vaccine mirrors COVID-19 vaccine guidelines passed by the same panel in September, which places new emphasis on the risks of immunizations, though the CDC’s own data shows that the vaccines are safe and effective for most people. As with the new COVID-19 vaccine recommendations, the updated hepatitis B guidelines will not take effect until being officially signed off by the CDC director.

A second vote, which passed 6-4, encourages parents to discuss using serology testing, a type of blood test that measures antibodies to gauge how well a patient’s immune system has responded to a disease, before allowing their children to receive additional doses of the hepatitis B vaccine.

The changed recommendations will not prevent doctors from administering hepatitis B vaccines to newborns, but may impact which insurance companies are willing to pay for the immunizations. Children enrolled in Medicaid or the Vaccines for Children program, which provides free immunizations to children who are uninsured or underinsured, will continue to be eligible for hepatitis B vaccines at birth under the new recommendations, according to program liaisons.

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While the Trump administration will not formally commemorate World AIDS Day this year, local activists across the country, including in Atlanta, are still honoring the day. With Georgia ranking number one in the country for new HIV cases, Atlanta HIV/AIDS activists are remembering the people we’ve lost and highlighting the work being done to end new HIV cases by 2030.

Related stories:
• AIDS Walk raises $1 million for HIV care
• House GOP seeks to cut all U.S. HIV prevention programs in 2026

World AIDS Day Events

Positive Runway World AIDS Day Gala
Dec. 1, 6 p.m.
Lips Atlanta

In honor of World AIDS Day, this event will unite community leaders, advocates, artists, and allies for an evening of style and purpose. The event will feature the world-famous Wilbourne Sisters Deigns, Alex Holliman, House of Chitenge, Click Models, and Lips Atlanta Entertainers and will benefit The House of Globalizations to support orphanages in Zambia caring for children affected by abuse, trafficking, and violence. Buy your tickets here.

“Chocolate Babies” screening
Dec. 1, 7 p.m.
Midtown Art Cinema

Out On Film and Gilead present Stephen Winter’s “Chocolate Babies,” a film telling the story of an underground band of HIV-positive, urban, and queer activists of color making headline in New York. Following the film will be a discussion about HIV/AIDS in the media with Craig Washington, Mark King, Tori Cooper, and Tony Bryce, and a reception at Apres Diem at 9 p.m. Learn more and RSVP here.

World AIDS Day Webinar
Dec. 5, 10 a.m.
Virtual

This Zoom discussion will reinforce the Pan American Health Organization’s call to achieve zero HIV-related deaths by 2030 by highlighting national leadership, achievements, progress, and challenges in today’s fight against HIV. Register here.

AIDS Memorial Quilt: Take the Rights Path
Dec. 6, 10 a.m.
Decatur Library

HIV/AIDS activists Season Barnette-Williams, Justice Puryear, Masonia Traylor, Ashley Wilson, and Phyllis Malone will discuss HIV/AIDS advocacy and inequities in ending the HIV epidemic in the Decatur Library’s Fourth Floor Gallery. The Gallery will also feature panels from the AIDS Memorial Quilt, on display from Dec. 5 through Jan. 10. RSVP here.

Together We Rise
Dec. 6, 4 p.m.
The Warehouse

AID Atlanta, AHF, and Positive Impact Health Center present this community-based World AIDS Day Commemoration to honor those we have lost and celebrate those who are thriving while living with HIV. The evening will begin with a cocktail hour and immersive activities followed by dinner and a program of presentations, awards, and commemoration. RSVP here.  

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