- Ndubuisi Onwumere
- Jan 15
- 3 min read
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 15, 2026
Contact:
Sen. Nabilah Parkes: “By Midnight Tonight, Georgians Will Be Locked Out of Affordable Coverage.”
Sen. Parkes called out Georgia leaders for not doing more to help Georgians keep their health insurance as premiums skyrocket
Data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) shows about 800,000 fewer enrollments nationwide compared to last year
As of December 2025, about 190,000 fewer Georgians have enrolled in Georgia Access compared to the year before
An estimate from the Georgia Health Initiative found changes to ACA and Medicaid policies could result in close to a half-million people losing health insurance between 2025 and 2034
Georgia Access enrollment period ends today at midnight
Watch Sen. Parkes’ speech HERE
Atlanta, Ga. — Thursday, January 15, Senator Nabilah Parkes (D-Duluth) spoke on the floor of the Georgia State Senate about the state’s health care crisis. Sen. Parkes highlighted the reality faced by families struggling with skyrocketing premiums and the next-order effects of failing to address the crisis. She criticized Georgia elected leaders for failing to do more to tackle rising health care costs.
Sen. Parkes is a leading cosponsor of SB 379, which would create a state-level affordability program to replace health care subsidies lost to the recent expiration of Affordable Care Act tax credits.
“By midnight tonight, the last Georgian who can enroll in the marketplace will have made their choice [but] let us tell the truth about what that choice really is.”
“For hundreds of thousands of Georgians, [the question is not] which plans you like best. It is not do you prefer this deductible or that deductible? It is one brutal question…do you go with health insurance or do you go without it?”
“Early numbers from December show enrollment in Georgia Access is down 190,000 people compared to last year.”
“Premiums in Georgia are rising an average of 200%. Analysts are warning almost half a million Georgians who are on the exchange won’t be able to afford health care. That is a statewide emergency.”
“I, with my colleagues, have cosponsored Senate Bill 379…this bill uses state subsidies to cover the increased cost caused by expiring ACA premiums subsidies, keeping premiums affordable for Georgians.”
“Some politicians will shrug and treat this like a problem that will fix itself but they are insulated from the consequences. They are not the ones staring at a premium they cannot pay—skipping check ups, rationing prescriptions while praying nothing goes wrong this month.”
“When the uninsured rate rises, the cost does not disappear. It gets shifted. Premiums rise, hospitals stretch scarce resources.”
“Georgia is sitting on a massive surplus and there are leaders who will pretend we cannot afford to help Georgians keep their health insurance. That is not fiscal responsibility. That is a dereliction of our duty to look after Georgians.”
“If we do nothing, people will get sicker. Preventative problems will become emergencies. Some families will bury people who should still be here.”
“By midnight tonight, Georgians will be locked out of affordable coverage unless they have the luck to have money sitting around…luck is not health policy and indifference is not leadership.”
“We can act, we can lead, and we can do what is right.”
Sen. Nabilah Parkes is available for comment
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