Georgia Dems decry steep drop in ACA enrollment

When congressional Republicans allowed pandemic-era enhanced health insurance subsidies to expire at the end of last year, Georgia Democrats and at least one notable Republican warned that a spike in premiums for Affordable Care Act plans would cause many Georgians to lose their coverage.

New data obtained this week from the Current GA and the Georgia Recorder shows the losses are worse than expected. More than a half million Georgians have dropped their health insurance coverage, representing a 37% enrollment decline from January 2025 to April 17.

Georgia Democrats blasted their colleagues across the aisle anew for letting the subsidies expire while Republicans interviewed for this story largely sidestepped questions about the enrollment drop.

"Today's reporting confirms what we've long feared: when the folks in power in Washington put billionaires above everyday people, Georgians pay the price," U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock, a Democrat, said in a statement Tuesday. "Thousands of Georgians who would otherwise have health care coverage will go bankrupt from treatable illnesses or avoid getting care until it's too late."

Initial data released in January showed a sizable enrollment decline of about 190,000 people. But the new numbers released this week have been adjusted to reflect those who were automatically reenrolled early this year but failed to make their first premium payments.

There is no data currently available to show how many of these people may have gained health care coverage another way, such as through a new job, but experts say it's likely large numbers of them had no better options, according to the Current GA.

The new enrollment numbers were released as campaigning intensifies for Georgia's May 19 primary elections, when voters will choose nominees for governor and down-ballot races for other state leaders who have a hand in shaping health care policy in Georgia. Early voting starts Monday.

Republican candidates for governor largely skirted questions about the decrease when talking to reporters at a candidate forum in Atlanta Tuesday, instead proposing ways Georgia could better address access to health care without federal programs.

"What I do know is that a big government solution will not work for health care. If it did — look at Obamacare. It's a mess, and it really doesn't work," said Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a Republican candidate for governor.

Democrats largely cast blame for the loss in coverage on Republicans.

Former Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan, who served as a Republican but is now running for governor as a Democrat, called the enrollment losses a "crisis" that is being ignored by both federal and state officials.

"I didn't see any bills come out of the Legislature that were improving those half million people," Duncan said before taking the opportunity to pitch Medicaid expansion as a potential solution, saying that "we should never send somebody to the emergency room without health insurance."

Former DeKalb County CEO Mike Thurmond, also a Democratic candidate for governor, said he was surprised by the new enrollment numbers but said that providing more coverage to the uninsured is "not a Democratic thing (or) a Republican thing. It's just the right thing to do for Georgia."