GUEST COLUMN: Affordable healthcare coverage is not a partisan issue

Northwest Georgia's own Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene recently made headlines speaking up about an issue that has surfaced in the media and in Congress over the last few weeks: Georgians — and our state economy — will suffer huge losses if Congress does not extend the enhanced premium tax credits that are currently set to expire at the end of this year.

These tax credits currently help 1.4 million Georgians afford their healthcare premiums on the state-based marketplace, Georgia Access. With the deadline looming, Rep. Greene wrote on social media: "I'm absolutely disgusted that health insurance premiums will DOUBLE if the tax credits expire this year."

As a lifelong Republican, I agree with Rep. Greene that allowing these tax credits to expire would be devastating for Georgia. The fact is that if they go away, we are suddenly looking at hundreds of thousands of hardworking Georgians not being able to afford coverage. At the end of the day, this is not a partisan issue — it is a health and economic issue that will harm all Georgians. By speaking up, Rep. Greene put her partisanship aside to put Georgians first — a brave act that I hope to see more of our representatives in Congress mirror in coming weeks.

Georgia Access window shoppers can now preview their premium rate increases for next year if Congress does not extend the tax credits. Some Georgians are looking at prices over four times their current rates. If you have coverage through Georgia Access, I encourage you to look into how these increases will impact you and your family.

The fact is, Georgia would be uniquely harmed if Congress lets this happen. Already, we have one of the highest uninsured rates in the country, with an estimated 1.2 million people without healthcare coverage. If these premium tax credits expire on top of the expected reductions to federal health spending included in H.R.1, we can expect half a million more Georgians to lose coverage — and that's not even accounting for the hundreds of thousands of Georgians who will be forced to make difficult financial decisions to afford their higher premium rates.

And on top of that, folks with Georgia Access coverage won't be the only ones harmed. A healthy, functioning Georgia economy requires healthy Georgians. Increasing our state's uninsured rate means more Georgians will miss out on the healthcare they need to stay healthy, which means worsening chronic diseases and more Georgians ultimately sidelined from the workforce. When uninsured Georgians do seek the care they need, our healthcare system will absorb more uncompensated care, which we know can drive up healthcare premiums for all of us and will certainly deliver a blow to our state's already struggling rural hospitals — and may even push some over the edge.

I urge you to speak up about this as Rep. Greene has. Georgia's full congressional delegation needs to hear from you — they need to know how this will affect you, and they need to know you are watching. Allowing these tax credits to expire would cause irreparable harm to our state, our family members, and our neighbors. This is not a partisan issue: Congress must extend the enhanced premium tax credits for the health and economic prosperity of Georgia.