State Policy · GA
Obama Endorses Bottoms, Touts Her Medicaid Expansion Pledge
Former President Barack Obama released campaign videos Thursday endorsing Democratic Georgia gubernatorial nominee Keisha Lance Bottoms and Sen. Jon Ossoff ahead of November's election. In the Bottoms video, Obama highlighted her pledge to expand Medicaid, lower costs, strengthen rural hospitals, and eliminate grocery taxes, alongside her record as Atlanta mayor. Bottoms faces Republican Rick Jackson, a healthcare executive, in a race described as a tossup, with early voting starting October 13. Georgia is one of ten states that has not adopted Medicaid expansion, making the governor's race a key factor in the state's coverage policy going forward.
Why it mattersA Bottoms win would put a pro-expansion governor in office in one of the last holdout states, directly affecting coverage prospects for hundreds of thousands of uninsured low-income Georgians and the managed care market that would serve them.