When Healthcare Becomes Personal: Why Medicaid Matters for Georgia Families

When my 82-year-old mom broke her hip, care made all the difference. Cutting Medicaid would strip that lifeline from families like mine.

My mom looked just like me when she was my age. Now, she is 82 years old. Just the other day, she broke her hip and had to undergo surgery at Northside Hospital Gwinnett. Now, she’s in a rehab facility, working hard every day to recover.

Like so many families, we are walking this journey of caring for aging parents. My mom’s experience reminds me how critical access to healthcare is for every Georgian.

That’s why I am deeply concerned about the Medicaid cuts being pushed through in what politicians are calling the “Big Ugly Bill”. If these cuts go through, between 310,000 and 700,000 Georgians could lose their healthcare coverage because of reductions in federal funding.

Let’s be clear: Medicaid is not just numbers on a page. It is a lifeline for seniors like my mom, for people with disabilities, for children who need a doctor when they’re sick, and for families working hard just to get by.

Georgia already ranks near the bottom in healthcare outcomes among all 50 states. We struggle with hospital closures, especially in rural areas, and too many families are one medical bill away from financial crisis. Cutting Medicaid now would push us even further behind, leaving our most vulnerable neighbors without access to the care they need.

For my mom, and for countless families like ours, Medicaid coverage is the difference between recovery and despair. This is not abstract policy. This is about whether people we love get to heal, grow, and thrive or whether they are left behind because politicians in Washington decided to play games with our healthcare.

I believe Georgia deserves better. Every family deserves peace of mind knowing that when a health crisis comes, care will be there. That’s why I will keep speaking out against these reckless cuts, because healthcare is not a privilege, it is a human right.

This is Michelle Kang, the candidate for House District 99.