Children accounted for about two-thirds of the nearly 96,000 Georgians who lost their Medicaid coverage last month as part of the nationwide unwinding of a pandemic-era federal policy.
And most of the children – 63,481 of them – had their health insurance terminated for procedural reasons, according to information provided by the state Department of Community Health in response to a request from the Georgia Recorder.
“This is a very onerous process littered with landmines and there’s so many barriers along the way to completing the process. It’s not all on the family. It’s a process that’s just not a very person-centered process in the first place,” said Leah Chan, director of health justice with the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute, adding that low public awareness of the unwinding also remains a concern.
Chan said she hopes state agencies will adjust when troubling trend lines appear in the monthly data, such as the early numbers showing a disproportionate number of children losing coverage.
