Georgia Families Feeling The Pinch As Health Insurance Costs Continue To Climb

Health insurance costs continue to put pressure on family budgets in Georgia, and even when premiums are not the highest in the country, many households here still feel the strain more sharply than families in other states. Nationally, the average annual premium for employer-sponsored family coverage reached $26,993 in 2025, with workers paying an average of $6,850 of that total out of pocket. At the same time, workers’ wages rose 4% while family premiums rose 6%, meaning insurance costs are still growing faster than paychecks.

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Georgia House OKs Bill Allowing Pharmacists to Prescribe HIV Prevention Drugs

A bill aimed at expanding access to HIV prevention medication has cleared the Georgia House, moving the state one step closer to allowing pharmacists to play a larger role in preventing new HIV infections.

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Critics Warn Georgia Income Tax Cut Plan Could Leave Working Families Behind

A major income tax cut plan approved by the Georgia Senate is being praised by supporters as “relief” for taxpayers — but critics on the left say the measure could end up harming the very people it claims to help: low-income residents and the lower working class.

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Georgia Hospitals Prepare for $218 Million Rural Health Transformation Rollout

Georgia’s hospitals are getting ready for the money by treating it like a competitive, time-boxed grant opportunity rather than a bailout. The Georgia Department of Community Health (DCH), which applied for and will manage the funds, is setting up a grant process where eligible providers must apply and show their projects “cannot maintain the status quo,” with the dollars needing to be allocated by October 2026.

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Georgia Proposes $1.4B “GREAT Health” Plan to Boost Rural Care and Telehealth

Georgia health officials have introduced a $1.4 billion, five-year plan aimed at improving health outcomes in rural communities through the federal Rural Health Transformation Program, created in this summer’s budget reconciliation law.

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Atrium Health Floyd Medical Center Named a U.S. News “Best Hospital for Maternity Care,” Earns Maternity Care Access Designation

Atrium Health Floyd Medical Center has been recognized by U.S. News & World Report in its annual listing of the “Best Hospitals for Maternity Care.”

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Atrium Health Floyd EMS Launches On-Scene Blood Transfusions for Floyd County; Chattooga County Expansion Planned for Early 2026

Atrium Health Floyd Emergency Medical Services is raising the bar for emergency response in Northwest Georgia by equipping ambulance teams with life-saving blood products and plasma to begin transfusions before patients reach the hospital—a move clinicians say can significantly improve survival in severe trauma and bleeding emergencies.

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Floyd Healthcare Foundation Awarded $20,000 Grant to Help Patients Get Breast Cancer Screenings

The Floyd Healthcare Foundation, an affiliate of Atrium Health Floyd, has been awarded $20,000 from the Georgia Breast Cancer License Plate Fund, a program supported through the State Office of Rural Health.

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