Georgia's Medicaid plan requiring work falling short of expected enrollments, report finds
Brian Kemp, governor of Georgia, during a panel session on day three of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, on Thursday, Jan. 18, 2024. (Stefan Wermuth/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
ATLANTA - Georgia's year-old Medicaid plan is falling far short of expected enrollment numbers, according to a new report from an Atlanta-based public policy group.
A year since its launch, Pathways to Coverage has only about 4,300 members, much lower than the 25,000 state officials projected and a tiny fraction of the roughly half-million state residents who could be covered if Georgia, like 40 other states, agreed to a full Medicaid expansion.
The report from the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute cites overwhelming paperwork, lengthy applications, and restrictive eligibility criteria as potential reasons for the low enrollment.
Pathways requires all recipients to show at least 80 hours of work monthly, volunteer activity, schooling or vocational rehabilitation. It also limits coverage to able-bodied adults earning no more than the federal poverty line, which is $15,060 for a single person and $31,200 for a family of four.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has rejected Georgia's request to extend Pathways twice, saying the state had failed to meet requirements for an extension request, including a public notice and comment period. Georgia argued that it was seeking to amend the program, so those requirements should not apply.
In July, a federal judge ruled in favor of the Biden Administration's decision to not extend the Medicaid plan to 2028, saying that while the administration’s decision to revoke parts of Pathways had delayed its implementation, a "prior bad act" did not allow the state to "now skirt the rules and regulations governing time extensions."
For now, Georgia officials show no sign of giving up on Pathways. The program is set to expire at the end of September 2025.