Health Care

State officials claim Medicaid expansion is unaffordable by overstating the real cost of covering newly eligible Georgians.  State estimates claim it will cost $4.5 billion to expand Medicaid. But the official estimate includes more than $2 billion of future costs that are not caused by Medicaid expansion. Removing cost increases… [Read more]

Georgia’s Investment Does Not Keep Pace With Growing Needs
The governor’s proposed budget includes about as much general fund support for Georgia’s public health programs as it did in 2001. Meanwhile, Georgia’s population grew by 21.2 percent from 2000 to 2012, a rate nearly twice that of the country as… [Read more]

Department of Community Health Plan Underfunds Medicaid
The governor’s budget recommendations may not include enough funding to cover the health care needs of Georgia’s growing population in the next two years. Because the original 2013 budget fails to include enough money to pay for new Medicaid and PeachCare patients expected… [Read more]

The Georgia hospital provider fee, or Medicaid assessment, expires on June 30, 2013.  The following answers to some frequently asked questions will help you understand the fee’s purpose and the ramifications if lawmakers allow it expire.  Download the fact sheet.

Georgia’s public health challenges such as obesity, infectious disease and low birthweight continue to increase in importance, but Georgia’s per-capita investment in public health programs has declined in recent years due to a shrinking state funding commitment coupled with a growing state population. Download the full report.
 
Related… [Read more]

The Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities was established as a stand-alone agency beginning in FY 2010 (July 1, 2009) after the break-up of the Department of Human Resources. While Georgia’s programs serving individuals with developmental disabilities and behavioral health needs sustained cuts in FY 2009 along with other… [Read more]

Despite enrollment growth to Georgia’s Medicaid and PeachCare programs and the increased cost of health care in recent years, Georgia appropriated fewer General Fund dollars to programs in FY 2013 than the enacted FY 2009 budget, which preceded the recession. Download the full report
 
Related Materials:
Medicaid… [Read more]

Health Care Law Expands Coverage, Saves State Money
Since March 2010, a variety of provisions of the Affordable Care Act have been implemented that expand health insurance coverage to thousands of Georgians, particularly young adults and Georgians previously denied coverage. It has also saved the state money — at least… [Read more]

The governor’s budget recommendations for FY 2013 increase state General Funds to the Department of Community Health (DCH); however, the increase is misleading. The bulk of the new funding restores funding originally diverted from the DCH budget in FY 2011 and FY 2012.
Download PDF.
 
 

 
The governor’s FY 2013 budget recommendations increase state General Funds to the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities (DBHDD) by $45.3 million (5.1 percent) compared to FY 2012. The bulk of this increase funds the continued implementation of the Department of Justice (DOJ) Settlement Agreement reached in 2010.… [Read more]