Keisha Lance Bottoms and Andy Beshear talk Medicaid expansion at Warner Robins roundtable among health professional shortage

WARNER ROBINS — Democratic gubernatorial nominee Keisha Lance Bottoms and Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear stopped by Warner Robins on Thursday to hold a roundtable discussion on her plans to expand Medicaid. 

This was Bottoms’ first campaign event since the Primary Election on May 19. She spoke about her plans to expand Medicaid coverage in Georgia and lower healthcare costs. 

Beshear attended in support and provided insights on how Kentucky expanded Medicaid. 

According to the Cicero Institute, 143 of 159 Georgia counties are health professional shortage areas, including Houston County.  Georgia Health News reported 220 doctors in Houston County in 2018. 

The Cicero Institute reports that the state is projected to be short 8,012 doctors by 2030 and the physician-to-patient ratio is 23% worse than the national average. 

Bottoms said she used to work in middle Georgia and considers her visit a chance to listen to the community. 

“It’s helped shaped so many of our policies for this campaign,” she said. 

A roundtable of multiple community members asked questions and shared concerns about access to healthcare in Georgia. 

Virginia Tidwell raised the issue of specialists not being available locally. She said her doctors were nearby when she lived in Atlanta, but moving to Warner Robins has been a different experience. 

Beshear said that is an example of when a government does not invest in Medicaid. 

“You should be able to see most doctors in your own community, especially one this size,” he said. 

Tidwell also shared what she has heard from her sister, who is an emergency medical doctor in Gainesville, Ga. She said her sister believes doctors do not want to practice in Georgia.

Tidwell asked how Bottoms would draw in qualified positions where they can have access to specialists and doctors in rural areas. 

Bottoms is running on a platform emphasizing healthcare access. Throughout her campaign, she noticed a lot of elements come into play when doctors decide not to practice medicine, pointing to the state’s six-week abortion ban and burnout as among the reasons. 

The abortion ban has made it more challenging for medical professionals due to witnessing miscarriages. Bottoms also stopped in Columbus during her tour, where she spoke with healthcare professionals. During the roundtable, she told a story about a doctor in Columbus who had to tell a woman experiencing a miscarriage that she had to wait 24 hours due to the ban. 

Another person on the roundtable, Evelyn Tucks, asked Bottoms if she could expand Medicaid during her first term. She also asked if it is possible to build and reopen more hospitals in rural areas.  

According to Georgians for a Healthy Future, nine rural hospitals have closed in Georgia since 2010.

If elected, Bottoms said in her first 100 days, she will begin to prepare state agencies for expansion. She explained the state took away the right of the governor to unilaterally expand Medicaid. 

Georgia is one of 10 states that have not expanded Medicaid. Instead, the state is “partially” expanded since it operates a limited “pathways to coverage” program. According to the Georgia Health Initiative, more than 1.2 million Georgians lack healthcare coverage. This makes the state the third-highest uninsured rate in the country. 

Lack of access to medical care has impacted people across the state, Bottoms said. It has even impacted Atlanta with the closure of the Wellstar Atlanta Medical Center in 2022. 

“There is not a community in this state that has gone unscathed because we’ve not expanded Medicaid in this state,” she said. 

Bottoms wants to focus on investments in public health until they can get hospitals up and running. She also plans to provide mobile health clinics. 

She said it is important not only to be elected governor, but for the people to elect political leaders who will support Medicaid expansion.

Bottoms shared her plan to keep doctors in communities throughout the state.

She said they need incentives for people to stay in rural communities, whether that’s through loan forgiveness or housing. 

“We’ve got to find a reason to make people want to be in the state to practice medicine,” she said. 

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, they fund 80% of the money to public health services. However, much of that funding has been cut. 

In 2025, the Trump administration proposed a FY 2026 budget for the CDC that showed a 53% reduction in funding compared to FY 2024. 

Along with incentivizing efforts, Bottoms’ plan is to get rid of the six-week abortion ban and expand Medicaid.  

Kentucky expanded Medicaid back in 2014. Since then, more than 570,000 people have received healthcare coverage through the program. 

This is Bottom’s first campaign event since the primary election on May 19. She won 57% of the vote in the democratic primary. Bottoms previously visited Warner Robins last August during her “Standing up for Georgia” statewide tour. 

During a press conference after the event, Beshear said this was his second time visiting Warner Robins. 

Beshear not only serves as the Governor of Kentucky but also leads the Democratic Governors’ Association. 

Bottoms described Beshear as a “leader amongst leaders.”

“They’ve gotten it done in Kentucky under very similar circumstances. If Kentucky’s been able to get it done, then it certainly gives me hope for us in Georgia,” she said. 

Beshear said he believes Bottoms will represent Georgia well if elected. 

“We believe she is going to be the next governor of Georgia. We are confident she is going to govern in a way that will expand healthcare, create better wages, improve public safety and simply better the lives of the people of Georgia,” he said.