Barrett cites a projected $13.2 million health-cost jump in push against corporate medicine

Commissioner Dana Barrett is asking Fulton County to push for limits on corporate control of medical practices, using a projected $13.2 million rise in the county’s health-care costs to make the local case.⁠[1]

Her resolution is scheduled for consideration Oct. 21. Approval would put the county on record urging Congress and Georgia lawmakers to act; it would not impose a county ownership ban.⁠[1][2]

The proposal cites the county’s 2027 health-care premium proposal as projecting costs of $128.3 million, up from $115.1 million in 2026—an increase it lists as 11.47%. It says private equity ownership is identified as one major reason for the higher costs. But the resolution does not quantify how much of the increase is attributable to private equity; the $13.2 million difference is not a calculation of corporate ownership’s cost.⁠[1]

Specifically, Barrett wants commissioners to support the “Stop Corporate Takeovers of Physicians Act of 2026” and urge Congress to enact it. The resolution also asks Georgia lawmakers for protections preserving physician ownership and clinical control, preventing corporate interference in medical decisions and making ownership of medical practices more transparent.⁠[1]

Commissioners’ meeting begins at 10 a.m. Oct. 21 in Assembly Hall at the Fulton County Government Center, 141 Pryor Street SW in Atlanta. The proposal is agenda item 26-0728.⁠[2]