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GOP candidates make their case
Georgia has 45 mandates on health insurance, says Stephen Northington, an insurance agent from Cobb County, requiring policies to cover everything from sexually transmitted diseases to maternity care.
But Northington, who is running for insurance commissioner, said those mandates drive up the costs of health insurance and force a one-size-fits all policy on customers. Why, he asks, should a young single man have to buy a policy that covers maternity care.
“We need to have a mandate-free plan here in Georgia. We need to allow you the consumer to decide what is best for you and your family,” he told the Whitfield County Republican Party Tuesday night.
Northington said he differs from some Republicans because he opposes efforts to allow consumers to purchase insurance across state lines. He says that would drive insurance business out of the state. Instead, he says, he wants “to make Georgia the best place in America to buy insurance.”
He said that can be done by allowing a mandate-free policy and by cutting insurance premium taxes. Both of those policies, he notes, would have to be enacted by the General Assembly, but he said having an insurance commissioner who will fight for those changes would be crucial in making them happen.
Northington was one of three candidates for office who spoke to the Whitfield GOP at its monthly meeting.
Dr. Chris Cates, a cardiologist from Blairsville, explained why he is running to represent Georgia’s 9th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Cates said he and other doctors met last summer with House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md.
“We said, ‘Mr. Hoyer, let’s work together and let’s fix health care with a patient-oriented focus and do it incrementally,’” Cates said.
“He said, ‘You doctors better get on board or we will crush you,’” said Cates.
Cates said he knew then that health reform wasn’t about providing better care but was a power grab. He said that after relating what he had heard to friends they encouraged him to run for Congress.
Doug MacGinnitie, a businessman and attorney from Sandy Springs, said that studies have shown 75 to 80 percent of military voters were disenfranchised in 2008 because they were unable to request and return an absentee ballot in the required time.
MacGinnitie is running for secretary of state, which oversees Georgia elections, and he said he has already formed a committee to find ways to get absentee ballots to military personnel who are out of the state in a more timely manner.
“I believe it is vital that we make voting easy and efficient for our military personnel,” he said.
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Preparing for the big game
Kayla Webb, 15, performs a cheer with the varsity and junior varsity members of the North Murray cheerleading team Wednesday as they walk laps around the track at Murray High School. The team is getting ready for their first game of the season, scheduled for Aug. 20, a scrimmage against Murray High. Matt Hamilton/The Daily Citizen
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