Legislation that would codify the recommendations from Georgia’s Health Care Reform Task Force are coming soon.
In 2017, this task force met with local, state, and national experts about how to make Georgia’s healthcare system sustainable and how to address rising costs and lack of access. In early January 2018, the group released its final report, which tackles four key issues: mental health, the opioid crisis, primary and preventive care, and rural healthcare.
To do so, the task force recommends creating a central oversight council (the Health Coordination and Innovation Council) and a research center (the Health System Innovation Center). The Rome News-Tribune reports that the council will act to eliminate service duplication and work with hospitals, healthcare providers, employers, insurers, local governments, and consumers to develop a statewide healthcare strategy. The center, meanwhile, will bring together data and technical expertise from research institutions, hospital systems, and other agencies in order to fully analyze what is and isn’t working in the current system.
This is just the first step in overhauling the state’s healthcare system. The task force will remain in place and will continue working through 2018.
