Lower cost health care touted in legislative hearing

On Tuesday, a Georgia legislative panel heard about how federal cuts are impacting the healthcare of Georgia residents.

It's impacting lower-income Georgians and worsening with the federal budget, which critics say raises insurance rates and strips funding for a lower-cost healthcare component, according to advocates.

Georgia has had a large network of community health workers across the state, with hundreds of them hired since the pandemic. Advocates say community health workers pay for themselves by reducing patient visits to emergency rooms to address issues that might require more routine attention.

Some of those advocates told a special House committee on Tuesday that one community health worker can have as many as 100 clients, especially in rural Georgia.

"There have been over 1,