Over 500,000 individuals in Georgia have lost their Medicaid coverage as the state aggressively pursues Medicaid redetermination, leaving many citizens without crucial healthcare. This unwavering bureaucratic process has unfolded following an end to federal COVID-19 public health emergency regulations, which previously prevented the state from dropping beneficiaries. According to a report by WABE, Georgia is working through the monumental task of reassessing nearly 2.8 million adults and children enrolled in the program, demanding that all reapply to retain their health coverage.
The grind of paperwork and administrative requirements has proven a stumbling block for many. Deanna Williams, an enrollment assister with Georgians for a Healthy Future, expressed the surprise and hardship that her clients face when discovering their Medicaid coverage is no longer active. "It’s typically they’re finding out when they’re either going to a pharmacy or going to a doctor’s office and they’re having that visit," Williams told WABE. The lapse in coverage has led to people being without medication for potentially weeks at a time.
Efforts to mitigate coverage loss include proactive notifications from Georgia to Medicaid recipients, urging them to update their contact details in the state's system. Nonetheless, the sheer number of people cut off due to administrative issues — more than 504,000, with an additional almost 93,000 deemed ineligible – underscores the scale of the challenge at hand. The impact of this coverage interruption is acutely felt among beneficiaries, as Hinesville social worker John Terry points out. "Their lives are impacted greatly when there’s a delay on people processing paperwork or something getting lost in the mail, or even on the side of the clients — members not getting the paperwork back on time," Terry explained in a statement obtained by WABE.
Complications escalate for vulnerable populations, such as the elderly or disabled, who may encounter greater barriers in navigating the redetermination process. Terry, a veteran in the field since the 1980s, highlighted these difficulties, noting that some of his clients, who depend on in-home care, struggle to manage the necessary paperwork. "We deal with a population that may not be able to exchange documents or communicate as effectively as the general population," he stated in a statement obtained by WABE. While Georgia has invested over $50 million to expedite the Medicaid renewal process, bureaucratic delays remain a significant obstacle.
Political concerns have been raised, particularly around the loss of coverage for children. Democratic lawmakers such as Sens. Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock, and Rep. Lucy McBath have directed scrutiny towards the state government, alleging mismanagement. They sent a letter to Gov. Brian Kemp highlighting that nearly 150,000 children were stripped of Medicaid coverage in just six months of 2023 and faced obstacles to reenrollment. Despite the pushback from Kemp's office, the stakes remain high as Georgia pushes to process the remaining half of its Medicaid population by summer.
