ATLANTA — With the Georgia legislative session getting into full swing, four Republican senators signed on as co-sponsors for a state expansion of Medicaid.
The senators, Billy Hickman of Statesboro, Russ Goodman of Cogdell, Sam Watson of Moultrie and Carden Summers of Cordele, joined 18 of their Democratic colleagues to sponsor the legislation.
The State Office of Rural Health has a map of Georgia’s 159 counties, color-coded by the availability of medical options for their populations. The counties for each of the senators who signed on to the bill from the Republican side of the aisle are in rural, medically underserved areas, meaning they have a shortage of primary care services for patients.
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The legislation, Senate Bill 50, would expand access to medical coverage to Georgians making less than 138% of the federal poverty limit and would request a waiver to do so from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
The expansion would allow for the full payment of any premiums or other direct costs associated with enrolling in qualified healthcare plans for those in the low-income group mentioned. The legislation would also create an 11-member advisory council for the PeachCare Plus program.
Georgia is one of 10 states in the U.S. that has not adopted Medicaid expansions resulting from the Affordable Care Act.
“It is time that we stand up in Georgia,” Sen. David Lucas, of Macon, said at a Tuesday news briefing. “Across Democratic and Republican lines, not only do we need to be one of the donor states, but we need to be one of the states that benefits ... Some of our counterparts from across (the aisle) are joining us to help provide healthcare insurance for Georgians. You have to realize one thing, it’s about families.”
Lucas said that Medicaid expansion was not about work, it is about healthcare. He said expansion of Medicaid in Georgia could help half a million residents in the state receive medical coverage.
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“That’s the reason that we have put our efforts behind trying to make sure that half a million Georgians can receive healthcare. The plan the government has, you don’t see anyone running to jump on the plan,” Lucas added. “We’ve spent $29 million, we have about 4,200 folks who have signed up. The premiums are high and there is a work requirement. It’s time that we, as legislators, see about the people of Georgia.”
Harold V. Jones II, the minority leader and senator for Augusta, said that for the current session, having bipartisan support was helping them pursue the expansion.
“We have bipartisanship, that’s number one. The fact that we know rural hospitals are closing, that’s number two, that’s something that’s real. Those are some things that are real and happening, Jones said. “We know rural hospitals are closing. Now we have bipartisan buy-in, we know that Georgia actually lags behind the national average as far as doctors are concerned, also lags behind the national average as far as nurses are concerned, because of the fact that our reimbursement rates really are not there.
“I think when the facts are there, and as long as we’re pushing the issue openly, we welcome bipartisanship, we welcome dialogue. I think as long as we push this issue in good fashion, we can get the governor on board.”
Since taking office, Gov. Brian Kemp has been steadfast in his refusal to consider expanding Medicaid in Georgia.
He has promoted a test-piloted health coverage program called Pathways to Coverage, which introduced work requirements for some Medicaid-eligible beneficiaries, making Georgia the first state in the country to do so successfully.
That test pilot program ends in September, and Kemp has announced one of his priorities for the current legislative session is to expand who is eligible for Pathways. State officials have said Pathways could cover about 200,000 people, but the latest data from Georgia officials said the program had covered 8,385, a jump from the previously confirmed total of 5,120 near the end of October.
As Channel 2 Action News reported previously, the number of eligible Georgians who applied for the program was closer to 100,000 as of August, but just a fraction of them had proceeded to receive coverage.
At the start of the legislative session, Kemp said he wanted to expand Pathways to Coverage by adding a new qualifying activity, which would allow more families access to enroll.
Kemp’s office said the new activity “would provide Medicaid coverage to parents and legal guardians in households with incomes at or below 100% of the federal poverty level who have children ages 0-6 - furthering the state’s focus on healthy families, improving maternal and child health, and supporting parents who are trying to get back in the workforce but struggling due to lack of health insurance.”
If Georgia does expand Medicaid, it would leave Alabama, Florida, Kansas, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Wisconsin and Wyoming as those who have not opted into the federal program and funds available for their residents.
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