Abrams Says Waiver Effort Won’t Fix Georgia’s Health Care Problems

Former Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams told reporters Wednesday that Georgia’s proposed health care waivers are “shortsighted’’ and will leave hundreds of thousands without health insurance.

During last year’s gubernatorial campaign, Abrams pushed for the state to adopt full expansion of Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. She was narrowly defeated by Brian Kemp, who sided with fellow Republicans saying such a step would be too costly.

In the recent General Assembly session, Gov. Kemp successfully pushed a bill to have the state pursue a federal waiver that could add more Georgians to the Medicaid rolls. But that enrollment growth, as projected, would not be nearly as much as would come under full expansion.