1. United States
2. Ga.
3. Letter

I am writing to you not only as a Georgia citizen, educator, taxpayer, and voter, but as someone who is deeply frustrated and alarmed by the failures of our healthcare system and the inefficiency of the Department of Family and Children Services when it comes to helping working families access basic healthcare. The current Medicaid application process in Georgia is broken. It is slow, confusing, inconsistent, and often leaves the very people it is supposed to help without options. Families who are working hard, trying to stay afloat, and doing everything “right” are still falling through the cracks. My stepdaughter is 27 years old, a single mother raising a one-year-old child, and she suffers from Crohn’s disease as well as pyoderma gangrenosum—both serious medical conditions that require ongoing treatment, specialist care, and medication. She is trying to work and support herself and her child, yet because of Georgia’s restrictive Medicaid qualifications, she does not qualify for coverage. At the same time, the healthcare plans offered through Georgia Access are financially impossible for her to afford. The monthly premiums, deductibles, and out-of-pocket costs are simply unrealistic for a low-income working mother trying to survive. This is unacceptable. No mother should have to choose between paying rent, keeping the lights on, feeding her child, or receiving life-sustaining medical care. No working family should be punished for trying to be self-sufficient. We should not be forcing sick people into deeper poverty simply because they earn slightly too much to qualify for Medicaid but nowhere near enough to afford private insurance. Georgia’s refusal to create realistic pathways for healthcare access is hurting families every single day. The bureaucracy within DFCS only makes the problem worse. Endless paperwork, delayed responses, poor communication, and inconsistent case handling create unnecessary barriers for families already in crisis. I am demanding change. I urge you to fight for expanded Medicaid access in Georgia, improved affordability through Georgia Access, and a complete overhaul of the DFCS application and case management process so that it actually serves the people it was designed to help. Working families deserve healthcare. Single mothers deserve healthcare. Children deserve healthy parents. Chronic illness should not be a financial death sentence. This issue is not political—it is human. I ask you to take action, to listen to the voices of the families you represent, and to stop allowing Georgia’s most vulnerable working citizens to be ignored. We need leadership. We need reform. We need accountability. Most importantly, we need compassion backed by policy. Sincerely, Hannah L. Hutchison Georgia Resident, Educator, and Concerned Citizen