On Georgians’ minds: The Rising Cost of Healthcare, Especially Prescription Drug Costs
In the music classic “Georgia on My Mind,” both Ray Charles and Willie Nelson sing “Georgia, Georgia, the whole day through, just an old sweet song keeps Georgia on my mind….” While Ray and Willie had Georgia on their minds, one of the cost-of-living concerns on the minds of a lot of Georgians is the cost of healthcare.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics annually studies healthcare costs and their impact on employees and employers. In its most recently modified results from September 25, 2026, The Bureau notes that “health care is typically one of the most expensive benefits for employers to provide, constituting 8.1 percent of total compensation for civilian workers in March 2026.”
Earlier this week, the Middle Georgia CEO reported on one national survey’s results which revealed broad agreement that healthcare costs are too high and that they expect the government to take action to contain costs. Of course, any survey outcome depends on how questions are framed and who is asked to answer. A simple online search can find all sorts of poll results from liberal sources, from conservative sources, from pharmaceutical manufacturers, and from candidates. Despite the different slants from these sources, their shared underlying results show that healthcare costs are looming large in the minds and pocketbooks of Americans.
Georgia’s elected legislative leaders are on top of this issue. With the passage of HR 948 earlier this year, the House created a special “House Study Committee on Pharmacy Benefits Managers and Consumer Access to Prescription Medications.” The Committee’s job is to review and analyze the continued rise of prescription drug costs, the role of pharmacy benefit managers in driving pricing of and access to prescription drugs, and the loss of access to independent pharmacy businesses in rural Georgia – where it is now reported that no independent pharmacy exists in six rural Georgia counties.
The Study Committee held public hearing sessions on July 23rd at the State Capitol, on August 26th at the Mercer School of Medicine in Macon, and on October 2nd at Georgia Southern University’s Armstrong Campus in Savannah. Important testimony was presented to the Committee from a variety of sources that ranged from large complex pharmacy benefit managers (“PBMs”) to the Georgia Pharmacy Association representing more than 1,500 pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, independent community and chain pharmacies, and a variety of other providers.
Upon concluding its slated public hearings, the Study Committee will now wade through the complex data that it received from divergent players in this field. The Committee will determine whether there are legislative bills that it recommends be introduced in the 2027 legislative session. Members of the Study Committee have made it clear that there is a lot of confusion about the issue but they have also made it clear that finding ways to tackle the rising cost of, and lack of access to, essential Georgia healthcare benefits is their clear mission.
Paralleling the House Study Committee efforts, there is a competitive race for Governor going on – the outcome of which is only weeks away. The policy positions of the two candidates on healthcare costs are vastly different.
Regrettably, Keisha Lance Bottoms believes that the single biggest health care reform is to expand the Medicaid program even further and eliminate Georgia’s current work requirements for those receiving the expanded government benefits. On prescription drugs, Bottoms proposes to create another new state government Board to regulate pharmacy and drug costs. More government regulation has not historically yielded its promised results for lower costs and better access.
Rick Jackson has made affordable, accessible and accountable healthcare one of the top five priorities of his campaign. Touting his decades of actual work experience in building healthcare organizations, Mr. Jackson’s plan includes requiring meaningful price transparency, holding insurance companies accountable when they improperly delay or deny necessary care, and prioritizing the medical care choices of families and medical providers over second-guessing of insurance companies.
Hopeful change appears to be coming in early 2027 for Georgia on healthcare – especially prescription drug – costs.
Photo Courtesy Southeast Georgia Health System