Olivia Murphy of Norcross is among 1.7 million people in Georgia without health insurance. Denied disability though nearly blind, she finally got the eye surgery she needed through a charitable foundation. Photo by Stan Kaady

The cry for national health care reform is reaching a crescendo at a time when Georgians like Olivia Murphy need it the most.

The Norcross widow was 59 when she lost her job as an administrative assistant in 2007 and was unable to pay COBRA premiums. Denied disability though nearly blind, she finally got the eye surgery she needed through the Knights Templar Eye Foundation in Atlanta. But now she is jobless and uninsured.

“I’m supposed to go to the ophthalmologist every six months to monitor my condition, but I don’t have the money to go back. We need affordable health care. It is ridiculous that this country is so rich and people are suffering.”

Georgia had the nation’s sixth highest number of residents without insurance in 2007, and that was before the latest spike in job losses.

“Before the recession started, we had 1.7 million people in Georgia without health insurance, not including those who were underinsured,” said Kenneth A. Mitchell, AARP Georgia state director. “Now those in the 50-to-64 age range are getting hit with unemployment. A year ago, the unemployment rate was 5.3 percent. Now, in some counties, unemployment has already reached 13 percent.”

The soaring rate of unemployment has increased the sense of urgency for health care reform. Georgians who lose their jobs can continue their health insurance through COBRA, but once their unemployment checks stop, many can’t afford the premiums.

AARP Georgia is mobilizing volunteers and activists in a grassroots campaign to raise awareness of the health care problems many older people face. These problems range from having no insurance to the high costs of premiums, copayments, long-term care and prescription drugs. The same is happening in neighboring Florida.

Public forums and tele-town hall meetings are scheduled over the next several months to persuade the state congressional delegation to support reform. One tele-town hall meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. June 9 with Democratic Rep. John Barrow. About 30,000 AARP member households from Augusta to Savannah will receive automated calls on how to join the conference call.

The lobbying effort is focusing on moderate and conservative Democrats David Scott, Sanford D. Bishop Jr., Jim Marshall and Barrow, as well as Republicans Phil Gingrey, Nathan Deal and Tom Price.

“We want to get away from the gridlock we have had the last few years and come up with a bipartisan proposal,” AARP’s Mitchell said. “Health care cuts across all income levels and all political persuasions. Doing nothing is not an option.”

Even those with health insurance are feeling the financial pain. When Holly Parrish of Lafayette was diagnosed with a brain tumor in 2002, her husband’s insurance covered most of the treatment, but they still were left with $6,000 in out-of-pocket expenses.

“If you can’t pay your copayments, the doctors will not let you come back,” she said. “We need insurance that covers the copay or has lower copays. I hope our government listens. We need help and we need that help as soon as possible.”

Don O’Briant is a freelance writer living in Lilburn, Ga.