The National Association of Medicaid Directors emphasized Monday that its attention-getting opposition to the Graham-Cassidy health reform legislation was a consensus view of the board, and not a unanimous decision by all Medicaid directors. The legislation pending in the U.S. Senate would overturn much of the Affordable Care Act, including states’ expansion of their Medicaid programs. It would…
A new report finds that about 3,000 more Georgia children gained health insurance last year, along with about 250,000 kids nationally. Nationwide, 95.5 percent of children had health insurance in 2016, which is a historic high, according to the report released Friday by Georgetown University Center for Children and Families. Still, Georgia’s uninsured rate for kids,…
Special Report: Inside three Georgia counties that have struggled to keep their vulnerable hospitals ― and futures ― alive This article was produced through a partnership between Georgia Health News and HuffPost. It was written by HuffPost reporter Lauren Weber and GHN editor and CEO Andy Miller. GLENWOOD ― If you want to watch a…
Georgia and several other Southern states initially would gain in federal health care funding under a Republican bill speeding through the U.S. Senate, a new analysis finds. But that effect would begin to wear off after a decade from now, and ultimately could lead to losses for all states as compared with current funding streams,…
Georgia’s uninsured rate fell to 12.9 percent in 2016 from 13.9 percent the previous year, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. But the number and percentage of Georgians without health coverage remains among the highest in the nation. Its uninsured rate trails only Texas, Alaska and Oklahoma. Nationally, the number of Americans without health insurance…
The four insurers offering coverage in Georgia’s insurance exchange next year are increasing their proposed rates beyond the big premium hikes that they first sought, state officials said Tuesday. The ever-increasing premiums proposed by insurers reflect the instability surrounding the insurance exchanges, which provide health plans for individuals and families who don’t have job-based or government…
With Congress stuck over repeal of the Affordable Care Act, the question of whether Georgia should pursue Medicaid expansion under the 2010 law is being debated once again. Thirty-one states have expanded their Medicaid programs. Last week, in a GHN Commentary, state Rep. Jason Spencer (R-Woodbine) argued that expansion would be a mistake for the…
In the health care debates of recent months, we have seen people with disabilities, families of children with chronic conditions, seniors, people in recovery from opioid addiction, and others stand together to advocate against congressional proposals that would have made unconscionable cuts to Medicaid and repealed major provisions of the Affordable Care Act. These advocates…
Efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, have been stymied in Congress, at least for the time being. So Georgia legislators next year are expected to look at Medicaid “waivers’’ and other mechanisms to increase coverage and access to care under the federal rules now in place. State Rep. Jason Spencer,…
The chaos that continues to engulf the health care debate in Washington, D.C.. reaffirms the assertion that states must forge their own paths to protect the most vulnerable people in their communities. But too many states have turned to an expansion of Medicaid through Obamacare as a solution — putting their truly needy at risk…