5 Georgia Health Stories You Should Watch in 2023 – HONEYCOMB

Health issues made big headlines in Georgia in 2022. The trend is likely to continue in 2023, including in the Gold Dome during the upcoming legislature. WABE will be following to see how all of this plays out and how it could impact communities across Atlanta and beyond. Here are just some of the topics the editors will be paying attention to.

1. Access to psychiatric care in Georgia

The state struggles with persistent gaps in access to mental health and substance abuse services and a shortage of providers. In 2022, the General Assembly passed the Mental Health Parity Act, which requires health insurers in Georgia to cover mental and behavioral health problems on an equal footing with physical health problems. It also offers incentives to increase the workforce of providers in Georgia and obliges the state to monitor compliance with the law. In the upcoming legislative session, beginning Jan. 9, mental health advocates will urge lawmakers to build on the provisions of the bill, also known as House Bill 1013, and increase funding for community-based addiction and mental health prevention, treatment and recovery provide health services.

2. Abortion Rights

Last year saw months of legal battles over Georgia’s law, which bans abortions after about six weeks when heart activity is detected in the womb and many women are unaware they are pregnant. The fights are far from over. House Bill 481 went into effect a month after the US Supreme Court’s decision in June that upheld the Roe v. Wade picked up. A coalition of abortion rights advocates and medical providers sued to block the law on constitutional grounds. After a two-day trial in Fulton County Superior Court, the case now goes to the Georgia Supreme Court. Judges there will decide whether abortion restrictions can remain in force in Georgia. It is unclear when the court will hear the case.

3. Georgia’s Health Network

In November, Wellstar Health System closed the century-old Atlanta Medical Center in the Old Fourth Ward, citing mounting financial losses. The decision to close the Level 1 trauma center sparked an outcry at the loss of access to medical care in a state with dramatic health disparities. It also raised concerns about the impact of the closure on nearby hospitals, particularly Grady Memorial Hospital, the city’s only other Tier 1 trauma center. Grady officials told WABE that since AMC’s closure, the hospital treated more trauma patients. Last spring, Wellstar also closed AMC South, the only full-service emergency department in Fulton County south of I-20. Healthcare advocates say the state must do more to support its ailing hospital system. They want Georgia to fully expand Medicaid, which Gov. Brian Kemp opposes, to cover more Georgians and increase reimbursements to hospitals.

4. Addiction and Recovery

The drug overdose crisis has escalated dramatically during the pandemic. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 107,622 drug overdose deaths in 2021 — a record number — mostly opioid-related. Such deaths have also increased dramatically in Georgia. Priorities for the Georgia Council for Recovery for 2023 include pushing for more state and federal funding for community-based treatment and recovery programs led directly by people in recovery, as well as more harm prevention and education resources to raise awareness of reversal the overdose promoting drug naloxone. The coalition is also trying to give people affected by addiction and overdose a greater say in the allocation of hundreds of millions of dollars from the recent $26 billion multi-state opioid settlement.

5. Public Health and COVID-19

Three years into the pandemic, public health officials are again recommending covering up in areas with high levels of COVID-19 community, in crowded areas like public transit, and for those at higher risk of serious indoor infections. While the national surge in coronavirus remains below last winter’s levels, Georgia has seen an increase in reported cases and COVID-19 hospitalizations since Thanksgiving, as has influenza and RSV activity also increased. CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky advocates for federal lawmakers to give the agency greater authority, including the ability to enforce data sharing between the federal, state, and local levels. She says broader authority could help the Atlanta-based agency better respond to public health emergencies. The CDC has come under fire for its handling of the pandemic, the Mpox outbreak and other health crises.

This is part of WABE’s Storylines To Watch In 2023 series. Click here to see what storylines WABE reporters are following right now – including arts and culture, criminal justice, education, environment, housing, immigration and politics – so you know what the year will bring.