Georgia is offering a new bargain to some adults without health insurance beginning Saturday: Go to work or school and the state will cover you.
But advocates decry the plan, which will insure far fewer people than a full expansion of the state-federal Medicaid program, as needlessly restrictive and expensive.
The program is likely to be closely watched as Republicans in Congress push to let states require work from some current Medicaid enrollees.
Madeline Guth, a senior policy analyst with the Kaiser Family Foundation, said Democratic President Joe Biden’s administration is unlikely to approve work requirements, but a future Republican president could.
“I think there will be a lot of eyes on Georgia,” Guth said.
EXPANSION OF MEDICAID BENEFITS FOR NEW MOMS GAINING SUPPORT IN SOME REPUBLICAN STATES
Georgia is one of 10 remaining states that hasn’t expanded Medicaid eligibility to include individuals and families earning up to 138% of the federal poverty line, or $20,120 annually for a single person and $41,400 for a family of four.
Medicaid expansion was a key part of President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul in 2010, but many Republicans have fought it, including Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, a Republican.
Instead, Kemp is limiting expanded coverage to adults earning up to 100% of the poverty line — $14,580 for a single person or $30,000 for a family of four. And coverage is only available if able-bodied adults document they are working, volunteering, studying or in vocational rehabilitation for 80 hours per month.
It fits Kemp’s argument, as he tries to drag his party away from former President Donald Trump, that the GOP needs to show tangible conservative achievements for everyday people
“In our state, we want more people to be covered at a lower cost with more options for patients,” Kemp said in his State of the State speech in January.
Those who earn more will remain eligible for subsidized coverage, often with no premium cost, on the federal marketplace….
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