Rising Healthcare Costs Have Hit Georgia’s Most Conservative District. But Its Politics Are Unlikely To Change.

Amber Bates of Cohutta, Georgia, is one of thousands of people without health insurance in the 14th Congressional District, home to about 765,000 people in the northwestern corner of the state. She and her husband have not had health coverage for the past two years, Bates said, because their employment is unsteady and they earn too much to qualify for Medicaid, the public health insurance for those with disabilities or low incomes. When the GOP-led Congress allowed enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies — which helped lower the cost of plans sold on the marketplace — to expire at the end of last year, Bates’ mother-in-law dropped her plan, too. Bates and her husband have a 2-year-old son. The mother-in-law also cares for a son who has autism. They all live together in a trailer home, spending about a third of their family income on prescription medications and opting for trips to the emergency room — often their main destination for medical care, since they aren’t billed up front. It’s stressful, Bates said. Yet despite their situation, she said she remains “all in” for President Donald Trump. But she also said she’s recognizing flaws in his leadership. “He’s trying,” Bates said. “...