… [Read more]States that take advantage of new federal money available to extend Medicaid coverage to more residents are seeing substantial declines in uninsured rates this year. It makes sense. Greater Medicaid eligibility increases health coverage, and updated numbers from 2014 provide yet more compelling evidence that Georgia’s failure to expand Medicaid

States that expanded Medicaid eligibility to close their state’s coverage gap experienced substantial and nearly immediate reductions in charity care cases due to greater Medicaid payments. Those are the findings of a new report by the Colorado Hospital Association… [Read more], adding new support for the case to increase health coverage

… [Read more]Georgia’s recently appointed Rural Hospital Stabilization Committee will convene Monday, June 9 for the first time and it should seize the opportunity to fix a health care access problem that cries out for a comprehensive solution.
Hospitals are closing in rural Georgia at an alarming rate, including Charlton Memorial, the

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… [Read more]As published in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution on May 11, 2014
A quick scan of recent headlines could leave you with the impression two state laws approved this year all but end any conversation about Medicaid expansion in Georgia. Fortunately that isn’t the case, for the sake of more than 500,000

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Misty Williams just got a well-deserved laurel from the Columbia Journalism Review for her exemplary two-part series that clearly explains the tremendous downside to Georgia’s choice not to expand Medicaid.
The second installment… [Read more] of the series last Sunday took a detailed look at the policy choice Georgia

… [Read more]Georgia is home to more residents without health insurance coverage than all but four states. Still, state lawmakers used the 2014 to focus on ways to make it more difficult for Georgians to access benefits of the Affordable Care Act (ACA).   Georgia is left with its most pressing health care

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Amidst the debate in the Georgia House over House Bill 990… [Read more] this week, a representative questioned if new Medicaid expansion-related revenue from Georgia’s insurance premium tax can accurately be projected to offset the cost of enrolling more low-income people.
I would like to tackle that question in this blog. This

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Given by: Timothy Sweeney, Director of Health Policy | March 5, 2014
Overview of Recent Changes to GA State Health Benefit Plan… [Read more]

… [Read more]It’s frustrating to hear the cost-effectiveness of Georgia’s existing Medicaid program bashed as opponents of eligibility expansion stretch for reasons to justify legislation rushing through the General Assembly this year.
Georgia gets a great value from its investment in Medicaid and PeachCare. The two programs will combine to provide health

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Georgia’s House Judiciary Committee this week gave approval to a puzzling one-two punch of legislation aimed at distancing the state from expanding Medicaid eligibility. House Bill 990… [Read more] seems straight forward enough. It attempts to require the General Assembly to give approval before the governor could expand income eligibility thresholds for

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