In his desperation to appease the insurance industry, Brian Kemp is trying to sell so-called ‘tort reform’ – his signature measure that would limit Georgians’ ability to seek accountability from insurance companies in court – as a solution to everything from unaffordable premiums to lack of health care access in rural Georgia. Here’s a look at why tort reform isn’t the answer to Georgia’s Republican-created health care crisis.

Georgia Abortion Ban, Not Tort Law, Costs State Future Doctors

Brian Kemp claims that Georgia’s current tort law is driving future doctors from our state, ignoring the real issue scaring doctors away: Kemp’s own willingness to threaten them with jail time for providing essential medical care. A 2024 KFF report shows medical residency applications are down “in states where abortion is illegal or significantly restricted,” as it is in Georgia.

The KFF report continues that “for the second year running, fewer graduating U.S. medical students applied for residency training in states with abortion bans or restrictions than in the previous year.” It notes that since many doctors choose to live permanently in the state where they do their residency, this trend could significantly limit the number of doctors in states like Georgia for decades to come — and exacerbate the current dearth of doctors in rural areas.

Medicaid Expansion, Not Tort Reform, Will Shore Up Rural Hospitals

Brian Kemp and his insurance executive friends claim that tort reform is the key to saving our rural hospitals – 18 of which are at risk of closing under Kemp’s tenure, according to the AJC, in addition to the 12 total hospitals that have already closed under his failed leadership. But experts agree that the more powerful solution is what Kemp has refused to do for two terms now: fully expand Medicaid.

Health care consulting firm Chartis noted in a 2024 report that states refusing to accept federal funding to fully expand Medicaid “left more people without insurance — and rural hospitals with unpaid bills.” Fully expanding Medicaid would cover nearly half a million Georgians, ensuring rural hospitals are providing less uncompensated care and helping them keep their doors open. 

“Brian Kemp is lying to you that the only way to solve our state’s most pressing health care problems, from hospital closures to doctor shortages, is to shield insurance giants from citizens seeking justice and accountability in court,” said DPG spokesperson Ellie Schwartz. “The reality is that these are problems Kemp himself created by banning essential reproductive health care and blocking Medicaid expansion, and his ‘tort reform’ plan is corporate cronyism disguised as a solution.”