Georgia Today: Court nixes spaceport, a record year in Savannah, more access to healthcare needed

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Peter Biello: Welcome to the Georgia Today podcast from GPB News. Today is Tuesday, Feb. 7. I'm Peter Biello. On today's episode, the Georgia Supreme Court has ruled on the proposed spaceport plan for Camden County. Access to health insurance does not always guarantee access to care — and some Georgia lawmakers want to change that. And Savannah's airport records a record year for flights. These stories and more are coming up on this edition of Georgia Today.

Caption

A rendering of the proposed spaceport in Camden County, Ga.

Credit: Spaceport Camden

Story 1

Peter Biello: The Georgia Supreme Court has handed a major victory to opponents of a proposed spaceport in Southeast Georgia's Camden County. Yesterday, the justices unanimously upheld last year's vote, a referendum that blocks the project, which county officials have spent a decade and $12 million pursuing for economic development. County Commissioner Jim Goodman says the decision reaffirms the rights of Georgia voters to override their elected officials in extreme cases.

Jim Goodman: This was a financially disastrous proposition. It was going to be built on contaminated land. It was a failed project from the beginning.

Peter Biello: It's unclear if Camden County will pursue the spaceport any further. The county manager and county attorney have not returned a message seeking comment.

Story 2

Peter Biello: Access to health insurance doesn't always guarantee access to care. According to data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid. Some Georgia lawmakers want to hold insurance providers more accountable for ensuring that those with insurance are able to get treatment wherever they may live. GPB's Sofi Gratas has details.

Sofi Gratas: A study of over 600,000 Georgians with Marketplace Health plans found a quarter million deal with network inadequacy or a lack of nearby in-network providers for even basic care. That makes them insured, but essentially uncovered. County-level data from last year shows some rural counties with over 90% network inadequacy. Attorney for the Department of Insurance, Gregg Conley, spoke to the State House Health Committee on Monday.

Gregg Conley: There's two reasons you're going to see uncovered individuals. One reason is perhaps there are not enough providers. If it's a contracting issue, that's a tougher — that's a tougher nut to crack.

Sofi Gratas: Meaning some marketplace insurers just have worse coverage. In the state Senate, a new bill could create stricter adequacy standards for insurers. For GPB News, I'm Sofi Gratas.

Story 3

Peter Biello: For the first time in more than a decade, state lawmakers are considering legislation that would expand access to Georgia's monthly cash assistance program for low-income residents. Lawrenceville State Representative Republican Soo Hong has filed a bill to extend Temporary Assistance for Needy Families to include pregnant women. She says right now, Georgians can apply for the benefits only once a child is born.

Soo Hong: The federal law does allow states to expand it to pregnant women. But in Georgia, we do not have that yet. So this legislation will allow them to be eligible.

Peter Biello: The bill is part of an effort to address Georgia's maternal mortality rate, one of the highest in the nation.

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Peter Biello: Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger is urging the General Assembly to pass legislation aimed at preventing financial exploitation of seniors. Raffensperger told legislators yesterday that exploitation of seniors is on the rise since the pandemic and that the money is usually gone well before there is a complaint of financial exploitation. Senate Bill 84 would allow financial advisors to delay transactions if they suspect fraud against elderly or disabled clients.

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Peter Biello: There are people who require around-the-clock at home medical care. Finding professional caregivers for them can be tough or in some cases extremely expensive. That often leaves their family members faced with a difficult choice between a career or shouldering the responsibility of caregiving themselves. GPB's Ellen Eldridge has more on the economy of informal caregiving.

Ellen Eldridge: Paurvi Bhatt spent most of the last three decades as an unpaid caregiver for her parents.

Paurvi Bhatt: My father had early onset dementia and Alzheimer's at 58. He passed away at 75 and alongside all of that, my mother had multiple cancers since I was 3.

Ellen Eldridge: Bhatt says she felt lost as a second-generation Indian immigrant because she didn't have the experience of watching her parents care for their parents.

Paurvi Bhatt: My grandparents were in India and that was a whole set of other issues that my parents had to manage: the pain of not being right there as things were happening.

Ellen Eldridge: Her 78-year-old mother died last year. Now at 56, Bhatt is realizing she may not have someone to care for her when she needs help. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say there are currently about seven potential family caregivers per adult, but that number drops to four by the year 2030. That's partly because the number of baby boomers now in their senior years grew by more than 50% over the last decade. It's also because when people choose caregiving, it often means giving up paid work. Adults like Joe Grillo also need around-the-clock care. The 21-year-old has difficulty vocalizing his needs because he has cerebral palsy.

Jane Grillo: I see your smile. Before Joe was born, I had a full-time career and I made a decent living. And now I'm working part time and have been for 15 years. Tell me with your voice or touch my hand if that's okay with you.

Ellen Eldridge: So his mom, Jane Grillo, left a career to provide the bulk of that support.

Jane Grillo: I really want to hear your voice. I know it's a lot of work.

Ellen Eldridge: Research from the Washington Center for Equitable Growth says paid family leave policies help employees balance work and family. But Georgia does not require employers to offer paid time off. That means for some caregivers, the only real option is to quit. Many of the baby boomers who were still working when COVID-19 hit retired to care for family members. For those who can't quit working, there's the cost of paying a caregiver to consider. Susan Brown owns Right at Home North Atlanta, an in-home care service for seniors. She says care can cost between $27 and $35 an hour for someone looking for care that would allow them to work a full-time job, that could cost around $73,000 annually.

Susan Brown: And then they get frustrated when I tell them it's not covered by Medicare. The then families have to understand it's an out-of-pocket expense.

Ellen Eldridge: Brown says 70 to 80% of their clients pay out of pocket. But while the care may cost that much, the caregivers themselves don't earn that. On average, homecare workers in Georgia make about $30,000 a year. Brown says that makes them hard to hire.

Susan Brown: Because especially in the North Atlanta area, it's very expensive to live here and the caregivers can't afford to live here.

Ellen Eldridge: So caregivers might not be available even for those with the means to pay. Nationally, that leaves almost three-quarters of working caregivers worried about balancing responsibilities of work and home. For GPB News, I'm Ellen Eldridge.

Story 6

Peter Biello: Savannah / Hilton Head International Airport announced yesterday that it saw a record high number of passengers last year. GPB's Benjamin Payne reports.

Benjamin Payne: Just over three and a half million passengers flew through the airport in 2022. That's about half a million more than the previous record set in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic began. Airport spokesperson Lori Lynah attributes the bump in part to a release of pent-up demand for travel after the height of the pandemic.

Lori Lynah: I do think people were cooped up. I think that people could work remotely and a lot of people took advantage of that. And it's beautiful here. I mean, what more could you want?

Benjamin Payne: She says the airport is adding more gates, parking spots and TSA security checkpoints. The three and a half million passengers last year included virtually no layovers, as the airport is an origin and destination airport that does not have any scheduled layovers. For GPB News, I'm Benjamin Payne in Savannah.

Peter Biello: And that is it for this edition of Georgia Today. If you haven't subscribed to this podcast yet, we highly encourage it. That way, we'll be right back with you in your podcast feed tomorrow afternoon. And if you've got feedback, we'd love to hear from you. Email us at GeorgiaToday@GPB.org. I'm Peter Biello. Thanks so much for listening. We'll see you tomorrow.

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