by Ty Tagami | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA — A federal review of Georgia’s unique implementation of Medicaid found that two-thirds of the money went to administrative overhead rather than to medical assistance.
The report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office also found that more than half of the $80 million spent on the program since 2021 went to contractors who helped the state overhaul its eligibility and enrollment system.
Georgia’s Pathways to Coverage demonstration project needed the overhaul because of the state’s work requirement. All applicants must prove they spent 80 hours working, attending college or doing community service during the month before applying.
They must continue those activities to stay insured.
A law passed by Congress this year makes other states impose similar work requirements.
The new GAO review was requested by four Democrats in the U.S. Senate, including Georgia Sens. Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff. They oppose the work requirements.
Warnock’s office released the report Thursday.
In a briefing with reporters, a Warnock staffer criticized the lower-than-advertised program enrollment. There were about 7,500 Georgians insured by Pathways in May, the review said, far below the 25,000 Georgia had projected for the first year.
“This program is here to kick people off their health insurance,” said the Warnock staffer, who asked not to be identified.
The Pathways program technically started in 2021, but it did not get off the ground until 2023.
That pause likely drove up administrative costs, said the review.
Georgia’s Republican governor, Brian Kemp, blames the administration of former President Joe Biden, a Democrat, for that pause. Kemp’s office said the Biden administration “put up roadblocks at every turn” to stop Pathways.
“Democrats like Senators Ossoff and Warnock are trying to rewrite history after four years of inaction and blame the State for costs associated with their own stonewalling,” Kemp’s office said in an emailed statement.
Georgia is applying to extend the program another five years. The state estimates it can enroll at least 18,000 in the first year of extension, increasing that to more than 30,000 by year five.
The federal government has budgeted $400 million for administrative costs to implement the same kind of work requirements in states across the country.
