ICYMI: Keisha Highlights Bipartisan Support for Expanding Medicaid and Lowering Costs

Keisha Discussed Her Priorities at the National Association of Black Journalists Convention and with Democratic Governors Association Vice Chair Governor Gretchen Whitmer

Marietta, Ga. — On Friday, Democratic gubernatorial nominee Keisha Lance Bottoms joined Georgians for two discussions where she shared her plans to address the issues facing Georgians.

She sat down with NBC’s Blayne Alexander in Atlanta at the National Association of Black Journalists Convention to discuss her plans to expand access to affordable health care and invest in education. Later that day in Marietta, she joined Georgians and Democratic Governors Association Vice Chair Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer in Marietta to discuss her plans to expand Medicaid and bring down costs.

ATLANTA

Read Below for An Excerpt from Keisha’s Remarks:

“What I say in this room is the same thing that I say when I'm in Macon, when I'm in Albany, when I'm in Jesup,” Keisha said. “The geography may be different, but at the end of the day, everybody wants the same things. Everybody wants great communities. They want great schools. They want great access to health care. They want the opportunity to have economic prosperity. All those things are consistent. The starting point for some of our communities may be different, but the wants are very much the same.”

MARIETTA

Read Below for Excerpts from Keisha’s Remarks:

“The governor at the time, my predecessor, a Republican governor, saw what the numbers were [...] and he just did the math. He said, ‘[Medicaid expansion] is going to bring in money. This is going to help secure our hospitals, our rural hospitals,’” Whitmer said. “I was the minority leader in the Michigan Senate, and he couldn't talk people in his own party into doing it. So I worked with him to put the votes together, and that's how we got it over the finish line.”

“Even if people don't need Medicaid, they do need Medicaid to be expanded in the state. Even in Cobb County, we have one Level I trauma center in Cobb County. We aren't close to that level one trauma center,” said Keisha. “It is life or death for so many people because if you think about how many people travel 75, 85 or they travel I-20. They travel throughout the state. If you're going through a community, and God forbid you have a car accident or you have a heart attack or some medical emergency, you're going to go into an emergency room that is probably overcrowded because people are relying on emergency rooms as their primary care offices, so it just makes common sense [to expand Medicaid]. Imagine that Republicans and Democrats getting together to do something that makes common sense, and it sounds like that's what you all did in Michigan.”

“That's what we did, and I often share with folks when I was in the Michigan legislature, Republicans controlled everything,” Whitmer continued.

“Whether it's the affordability crisis on any front, just putting gas in your car or getting housing, it's gotten more expensive,” Whitmer said. “And so, I do think that having leaders who are prioritizing this, who understand it, who feel it that's what is going to drive your agenda.”

“As we're moving around the state, that's what we're hearing from young people: having to choose between rent, groceries, and books,” Keisha continued.

“I mean is that consistent or is there a unique challenge here that you're hearing about?” Whitmer asked.

“The high price of everything. I do also think election integrity is top of mind simply because Donald Trump is obsessed with Georgia. He's got 260 FBI agents in Fulton County right now still looking for 11,000 votes,” Keisha said. “But it's costs, costs and the economy and how unstable it is.”

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