Gov. Nathan Deal spoke about the Supreme Court ruling to uphold "Obamacare" at the state capitol. Deal said he was surprised by the ruling.
"Everyone has been waiting on this opinion," Deal said.
Deal said the main point that affects Georgians is that the door was left open for states to decide if they want to expand Medicaid. Deal also said the Medicaid population in Georgia would increase from 17.6 percent to 34 percent in 2014. That's another 620,000 people, costing roughly $76 million.
"It will put a strain on the state's budget and will be one of those areas of concern, but like everything else in tough economic times you have to decide what your priorities are and safety of the public always has to be one of our top priorities," Deal said.
Deal said he'll wait to take action until after the November election.
"We can then make a judgment call if there's going to be significant legislative action to repeal this legislation approved by court," Deal said.
Democrats talked about different numbers and showed their support for the ruling.
"We are the fifth state with the highest death rate due to being uninsured; 1.6 million are uninsured in Georgia," said Sen. Horacena Tate, D-District 38.
"It means that more Georgians will have health insurance, more Georgians will be able to make sure their children will be covered by health insurance. It's very, very important," said Sen. Vincent Fort, D-District 39.
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