ATLANTA — Georgia could give its economy a shot in the arm by increasing its spending on education, health insurance and research, the president of the state’s medical college said recently.

Dr. Ricardo Azziz, president of Georgia Health Sciences University, said late last week that policymakers don’t often talk of social services as economic-development programs, but they should. Even Medicaid, the health insurance program for the poor, brings money to a community that circulates in that local economy, he said.

“At the end of the day, we know that if you have health insurance, your health care and your health improve,” he said. “If your workforce is healthier, then prospective employers will be hiring healthier people.”

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Athens Banner-Herald, January 22, 2012