Georgia is home to the fifth most residents without health coverage of any state according to 2013 data, the latest available. Despite this poor ranking, Georgia’s leaders continue to refuse new federal funding to close Georgia’s coverage gap. Accepting this money could
The Georgia House of Representatives this week rearranged the state’s 2016 budget plan for education, health care and human services from the one the governor unveiled in January. The new version still does not include budget cuts required to pay
Nearly one in five people in Georgia still lack health insurance while other southern states that expanded Medicaid saw dramatic improvement of uninsured rates, according to the director of health policy for the Georgia Budget & Policy Institute. Read more.
The proposed 2016 state budget directs $3.6 billion from the general fund to Georgia’s three health care focused agencies, the departments of community health, public health, and behavioral health and developmental disabilities. The total reaches $4.2 billion when you add
Bus drivers and other school employees who work less than 30 hours a week won’t be eligible to enroll in the state health insurance program under a state Department of Community Health proposal. Read more.
You may have seen recent published claims that Georgians left without health insurance as a result of the state’s failure to expand Medicaid can simply get no-cost coverage through the new Health Insurance Marketplace. Not so fast. First, let’s be
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie announced today he will expand Medicaid coverage in his state, becoming the eighth Republican governor to change course and embrace the expansion. Florida Gov. Rick Scott announced last week his state will expand Medicaid coverage,
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
Georgia should take advantage of new federal funding to expand Medicaid in 2014 to boost Georgia’s economy and create tens of thousands of new jobs, all while extending health coverage to hundreds of thousands of Georgians. Download the fact sheet.
GBPI Director of Health Policy Timothy Sweeney’s op-ed on Medicaid expansion is featured in the Saporta Report; read full article here.
The Georgia Budget & Policy Institute works to advance lasting solutions that expand economic opportunity and well-being for all Georgians.
Georgia Budget & Policy Institute
GBPI is committed to tracking how the state of Georgia raises and spends fiscal resources. As the federal government has promised and provided some of these, cuts to programs and funding on the federal level could have deep and lasting impacts on Georgians and on the state’s ability to meet the needs of all its residents.
Submit public comment on Georgia’s Pathways to Coverage program extension by February 20th – just complete this easily fillable form:
