Bishop: Trump campaign out of touch with rural health care needs

ALBANY — U.S. Congressman Sanford Bishop assailed Republican Vice Presidential Candidate J.D. Vance Wednesday for comments Vance made during a recent campaign stop in Valdosta, during which the Republican said illegal aliens are the cause of hospital closures in Georgia.

Bishop, who was in Albany to kick off his 2024 re-election campaign for the 2nd Congressional District seat he’s held since 1993, told The Albany Herald during an interview that Vance’s comments point to someone who is out of touch with the issues facing rural Georgians.

“No, what makes rural hospitals in Georgia not viable is that they have to have the income to stay open,” Bishop said in a direct reference to comments made by Vance. The GOP vice presidential nominee told supporters in Valdosta, “We’re seeing massive closures of rural hospitals over the past few years. What makes rural hospitals not financially viable? It’s when you bring millions of illegal aliens into your country and you give them free health care paid for by American taxpayers. I want American citizens to benefit from our great health care system.” 

Bishop said the Donald Trump-Vance ticket threatens rural hospitals across the nation with their stated plans to do away with the Affordable Care Act. He also noted that Georgia is one of 10 states that has not expanded Medicaid coverage under ACA, leaving hundreds of thousands across the state without health care coverage.

“(Trump’s) policies and the failure of the state legislature to expand Medicaid are what threaten rural hospitals in Georgia, not illegal aliens as (Vance) stated,” Bishop said. “These people are playing politics, and the burden is not falling on the state, it’s falling on state residents. More than 500,000 Georgians, for example, would get health care coverage if the state only expanded Medicaid.

“While (the Trump campaign) is somehow trying to equate immigration issues with the health care emergency in Georgia, we’re seeing rural hospitals close for financial reasons, leaving thousands of citizens without coverage. Senators (Jon) Ossoff and (Raphael) Warnock and I are among those working hard to address those health care issues in the state. We’ve gotten $11.8 million to help re-open the Cuthbert hospital (that closed in 2020).”

Bishop pointed to other efforts he and others have undertaken to improve health care in southwest Georgia, including funding for mobile health units at Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital and Albany Technical College in Albany; appropriations for health care education at institutions like the Medical College of Georgia and Mercer University, as well as support for the Living Learning Nursing Community recently opened by Phoebe and Albany Tech.

Bishop praised the campaign of Democratic Presidential nominee Kamala Harris and her running mate, Tim Walz, calling the Harris-Walz ticket a “breath of fresh air in Washington.”

“The Harris-Walz ticket will be for all Americans — rural, urban, black, white, young, old, industry and defense, every demographic — not just for a wealthy few,” the Congressman said. “They are about the things we all have in common, not the things that divide us. People are excited about their campaign; there’s an energy surrounding them that’s exponential.”

As for his own campaign against Republican Wayne Johnson, Bishop said he sees the election as an opportunity for the people of the 2nd Congressional District to judge his last two years — and his entire tenure — in office.

“I’ve been doing this every two years since 1976,” he said. “It’s an opportunity for me to give an accounting for the stewardship I’ve been entrusted with, for the people to determine if I’ve delivered. I have worked across the political aisle to help bring billions of dollars to our district, our state and across the country.

“I believe the people will agree that I have delivered.”