Georgia GOP nominee for governor Rick Jackson, the billionaire founder and CEO of the healthcare staffing company Jackson Healthcare who defeated President Trump-endorsed Lt. Gov. Burt Jones in a primary runoff, is being criticized for saying at a press conference: “You know, you need to understand, not having insurance in Georgia does not mean you don’t have healthcare. There’s a huge difference. Some people equate it. That is not true.”
[NOTE: The Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) is a federal law requiring hospital emergency departments to stabilize anyone with a medical emergency, regardless of insurance status or ability to pay.]
Georgia GOP governor candidate Rick Jackson—a billionaire health executive who has made over $1 billion in state healthcare contracts:
“You know, you need to understand, not having insurance in Georgia does not mean you don’t have healthcare. There’s a huge difference. Some… pic.twitter.com/7sTWeVFvHG
— MeidasTouch (@MeidasTouch) August 21, 2026
Georgia state Rep. Ruwa Romman (D) responded to Jackson’s comment: “Rick seems to think Georgians deserve to only have two options: death or financial ruin. Georgia has the fifth highest rate of medical bankruptcy in the country. This man would rather you lose everything or die than have his medical empire lose even a tiny bit of profit.”
Romman added, “Good Lord, just expand Medicaid.”
Good Lord, just expand Medicaid. https://t.co/kNssqounOE
— Ruwa Romman (@ruwaromman) August 20, 2026
Georgia’s Democratic governor nominee Keisha Lance Bottoms, a former mayor of Atlanta and Director of the Office of Public Engagement during the Biden administration, has said that if elected she will expand access to Medicaid in an effort to fight what she characterizes as a healthcare crisis in Georgia, where the rising cost of premiums is making health insurance increasingly unaffordable.
[NOTE: The Atlanta Voice cites a poll saying ”Nearly half of Democrats and a quarter of Republicans said they had skipped or delayed care in the past year due to the cost.”]
Jackson’s solution to the rising cost of premiums is to seek a federal block grant to implement what he called “an intelligent Medicaid expansion,” one that would provide training programs for Medicaid recipients so they can find jobs that come with commercial insurance.
[NOTE: According to a new report released by Petersen-KFF, small companies (with 50 or fewer full-time equivalent employees) may see a median 14% increase in health insurance premiums in 2027.]