The cost of healthcare is always on the minds of Georgians.
Year after year, it seems the cost of healthcare is on the rise, much of which is been exacerbated and complicated by the pandemic. In 2022, state leaders and lawmakers must do everything they can to keep the cost of healthcare low for Georgia’s families.
The Georgia General Assembly is about to begin its 40-dayLegislative Session. Soon, lawmakers will begin work on pandemic recovery, Georgia’s next budget, and numerous other legislative proposals, many of which are bound to impact the cost of healthcare. This will all be done our as elected officials prepare for the upcoming election cycle.
As we wade through these legislative priorities and looming elections, we must work through all the noise and focus on policies that expand access, reduce burdensome regulation, and increase access to quality care.
One of the biggest costs affecting Georgians is the price of prescription drugs. Many parents, children, veterans, and elderly population, many of whom are on fixed or limited incomes,depend on prescription drugs daily to support their physical and mental health.
During the pandemic, when Georgians were hurting the most,the price tag for many prescriptions drugs continued to increase.The financial stress brought on by these price increases forced many Georgians to make tough decisions on their own healthcare and the healthcare of their loved ones.
Now, we almost two years since the pandemic began and prices are still going up. Pharmaceutical companies continue to use the pandemic as justification to keep the cost of prescription drugs high. Policy makes continue to use the pandemic as an excuse to put more burdensome regulations on our health care system.
When pharmaceutical companies keep prices high and the free market is unable to self-adjust the costs of these prescription drugs, Georgia’s citizens lose.
In the worst scenarios, costs become too high to bear andpatients stop using their medications all together. When patients fail to get medications they need, simple and treatable healthcare problems can often develop into serious, life-threatening, and costly health issues. We must do better.
Preventing pharmaceutical companies from arbitrarily driving up the costs of prescription drugs and putting a stop to the overregulation of our pharmacy industry will help ensure that the free market can keep out health costs reasonable.
The path to keeping these costs in check is rooted in conservative values of limited government and the freedom to make our own choices when it comes to healthcare services. We cannot allow further government overreach to drive up the cost of prescription drugs and healthcare services.
As the 2022 legislative year begins, lawmakers and state leadersmust take a serious look at any new policy or legislation to ensure that they do not create any cost increasing regulations for on our healthcare system.
