ATLANTA — The State of Georgia filed an application to extend the operational testing time of the Georgia Pathways to Coverage program.
As Channel 2 Action News previously reported, it is the first Medicaid program in the United States to add work requirements for some of the health benefits.
In 2024, the state sued the Biden Administration in a bid to have the program run longer, citing a delayed start of the program due to federal delays.
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The lawsuit was dismissed by a federal judge in July 2024.
“If Georgia wants to extend the program beyond the September 30, 2025, deadline, it has to follow the rules for obtaining an extension,” Judge Lisa Godbey Wood wrote at the time, dismissing the case.
Despite the judge’s ruling in July, Georgia officials did not file for the extension until after the Trump administration returned to the White House following the November 2024 election.
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Channel 2 Action News has reached out to state officials for more information about when the extension application was filed and the gap in time between the dismissal of the federal lawsuit and when the application was submitted.
The initial program launch was approved after discussion with the president’s previous administration in 2020, but when former President Joe Biden was in office, the administration temporarily delayed the program’s start.
The test pilot of the program, its “demonstration years,” were delayed until July 2023.
As of April 28, the State of Georgia told the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) that there were about 1.04 million Georgians between the ages of 19 and 64 who were uninsured.
The data was included in an application for a waiver extension to continue the Pathways to Coverage Program in Georgia. If the extension is not granted, the program would expire on Sept. 30.
Should the extension be granted, the program would be continued through September 2028, according to the filing from the state.
While only an estimate, Georgia’s application for the extension waiver to CMS says the state expects to have 6,814 enrollees in the Georgia Pathways to Coverage program during “Demonstration Year 5,” the current year of the program. The estimate is based on historical data, according to the application.
As of March, 6,589 enrollees were active in the program, the state reported to CMS.
Channel 2 Action News is working to get a more recent count of enrollees currently benefiting from the program.
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