Blog Medicaid Turns 50: Half a Century of Providing Health Care to Georgians July 24, 2015 / January 16, 2020 by GBPI Admin By Ann Hedges This month, Medicaid turns 50. President Lyndon Johnson signed the landmark legislation into law July 30, 1965. Since its inception, Medicaid has provided health coverage to some of Georgia’s most vulnerable residents. Low-income seniors and people with disabilities get stable access to health care services through the Aged, Blind, and Disabled program. […] Read more » Ann Hedges health medicaid Medicaid Expansion
Blog Claire Suggs Teacher Compensation a Contentious Issue for Education Reform Commission July 15, 2015 / January 16, 2020 by Claire Suggs | 3 Comments on Teacher Compensation a Contentious Issue for Education Reform Commission Education funding is often a contentious topic, and so it is for the governor’s Education Reform Commission as a key subcommittee reconvenes this week for its July 16 meeting. Commission members disagree whether a new formula for funding public schools should be based on an assessment of cost, as I described in an earlier blog. […] Read more » Claire Suggs Education K-12
Blog Timothy Sweeney School District Employees Deserve Break from Rising Insurance Premiums July 10, 2015 / January 16, 2020 by Timothy Sweeney Just before the close of the 2015 fiscal year at the end of June, the state released a 24-page report examining the costs of Georgia’s State Health Benefit Plan. That is the health insurance plan for state employees, teachers, and other school district employees. The report is a requirement built into Georgia’s Amended 2015 budget and […] Read more » Education health Tim Sweeney
Blog Health Justice Timothy Sweeney Supreme Court Ruling Frees Georgia to Turn Attention to Closing Coverage Gap June 25, 2015 / January 16, 2020 by Timothy Sweeney Today the U.S. Supreme Court again upheld a key component of the Affordable Care Act against a politically-driven effort to dismantle the law through the court system. The ruling issued in King v. Burwell protects tax credits in states such as Georgia that chose to use the federal healthcare.gov marketplace rather than create their own […] Read more » health Tim Sweeney
Blog Wesley Tharpe Pro-Work Tax Credits Give Georgia Fathers a Hand June 19, 2015 / January 16, 2020 by Wesley Tharpe Countless Georgians will celebrate the role that fathers play in their families this Sunday, on Father’s Day. They’ll reflect on all the hard-work, sacrifice, trials, tribulations and joy found along the path to successful fatherhood. It’s highly unlikely many families will talk much about their tax bills, but given something that’s going on in Congress […] Read more » Economic Security EITC Safety Net State Taxes Wesley Tharpe
Author Blog Cash and Safety Net Melissa Johnson Rising Child Poverty Places More Demand on Summer Feeding Programs June 17, 2015 / January 16, 2020 by Melissa Johnson | 1 Comment on Rising Child Poverty Places More Demand on Summer Feeding Programs Georgia summer nutrition programs served about 18,000 more children in July 2014 than in July 2013. That’s the good news. The bad news is that these programs still served less than one in six needy children in 2014, according to a recent report by the Food Research and Action Center. Georgia’s summer nutrition programs still […] Read more » Economic Security Melissa Johnson Safety Net
Blog Timothy Sweeney North Carolina Mayor Makes Long Trek to Save Rural Hospitals June 4, 2015 / January 16, 2020 by Timothy Sweeney By Ann Hedges and Tim Sweeney On Monday, Belhaven, N.C. Mayor Adam O’Neal started a 283-mile walk to our nation’s capital to advocate for a way to reopen his community’s hospital. This is his second long trek to Washington, D.C. to draw attention to the struggles of rural health facilities since the Belhaven hospital shut […] Read more » Affordable Care Act health medicaid Medicaid Expansion Tim Sweeney
Blog Claire Suggs Education Reform Commission – Can We Talk About the Cost? May 27, 2015 / January 16, 2020 by Claire Suggs The Education Reform Commission established by Gov. Nathan Deal spent a lot of time talking about money in recent months. Its members considered an alternative approach to distributing state funds that gives districts greater flexibility in using those dollars. They also discussed differences in students’ needs and changing how funds are allocated based on those […] Read more » Education Governor Deal K-12 State Budget
Author Blog Cash and Safety Net Melissa Johnson Summer Brings Child Hunger Challenges May 26, 2015 / January 17, 2020 by Melissa Johnson It’s that time of year again. The school year is ending and Georgia children are leaving classrooms for summer break. For more than 1 million Georgia children who qualify for free- or reduced-price lunches, summer break also brings anxiety. Fewer than one in seven Georgia children who rely on subsidized school lunches receive free summer […] Read more » Economic Security Melissa Johnson Safety Net
Blog Wesley Tharpe Tax Policy a Quality of Life Topic in 2015 and Beyond May 20, 2015 / January 17, 2020 by Wesley Tharpe Taxes are nobody’s favorite expense. Most people view them as simply a nuisance bill to pay or as an added cost on a major purchase. Average Georgians rarely give state tax policy a second thought, especially compared to critical challenges like education and health care. But few issues matter more to the pocketbooks of Georgia […] Read more » Governor Deal State Budget State Taxes Wesley Tharpe
