Stacey Abrams Making 90-Minute Drive to Highlight Journey Georgians in Life-or-Death Situations Will Be Forced to Take Because Brian Kemp Won’t Expand Medicaid

Right now, Stacey Abrams is in a car driving from Atlanta’s Grady Hospital to Macon’s Atrium Health Navicent Medical Center to raise the alarm that this same trip is a route many Georgians will be forced to take to receive urgent care after Gov. Brian Kemp’s refusal to expand Medicaid has led to closures of several medical centers throughout the state.

Click here to watch a video of her embarking on the trip and continue to follow along ahead of her press conference in Macon at 5 pm ET.

Most recently, Atlanta Medical Center, one of Georgia’s few Level 1 trauma centers, announced its plans to shut down operations due to a lack of funding. As a result, any Georgian in a life or death situation will now be forced to drive 1.5 to 2 hours to get the care they need — or even worse, not get it at all.

Despite these closures, Kemp continues to double down on his opposition to Medicaid expansion, leaving Georgia’s most vulnerable residents with few options for comprehensive healthcare and even more hospitals at risk of closure.

“When Brian Kemp refused to expand Medicaid, when he said no to four billion dollars in Georgia taxpayer money … he created this crisis,” Abrams said in a press conference. 

Under Kemp’s failed leadership, Georgia is set to lose six hospitals since 2019 alone and has recorded one of the highest uninsured rates in the nation.

“Brian Kemp’s refusal to expand Medicaid has been a catastrophic failure with hospitals closing their doors, nurses losing their jobs, and Georgians not receiving the care they need,” said DGA Deputy Communications Director Sam Newton. “While Kemp is content to let residents suffer, Stacey Abrams is showing up for residents and making Medicaid expansion central to her plan to lift up all Georgians.”

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