Georgia has streamlined its proposal to the feds for a waiver on health insurance rules, and has postponed its launch till 2022. State officials cited “the unanticipated impact of COVID-19 on the state and its residents’’ in the announcement last week about the changes. The pandemic has required a... Read more
The economic downturn triggered by COVID-19 is producing the expected result in Georgia’s Medicaid program: A surge in enrollment. State figures show Georgia’s Medicaid enrollment increased by 42,000 in May. That rise followed an enrollment spike of 91,000 in April. During those two months, the pandemic devastated the economies... Read more
Patient visits are way down. Many children aren’t coming in for vaccinations. Some longtime adult patients are now ‘‘train wrecks,’’ with their diabetes and hypertension out of control. “I’m pretty tired,’’ says Todd Shifflet, CEO of Georgia Highlands Medical Services, which runs five medical clinics in Cumming and nearby... Read more
Budget cuts for mental health, disabilities alarm patient advocates
Reader FavoritesThe Pulse May 23, 2020 3
“The safety net is stretched to the max.’’ Judy Fitzgerald, commissioner of the agency that oversees mental health and substance abuse services, gave that stark assessment in January to state legislators who were considering budget cuts to her department. Now, even deeper cuts are on the table. Georgia’s budget... Read more
Georgia data indicate that the economic crisis caused by the pandemic has begun to have an effect on enrollment in Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program. As COVID-19 ravaged the state over the past two months, new Medicaid and PeachCare enrollment in Georgia has increased 38 percent, versus... Read more
Stopping the COVID spread
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The reopening of Georgia
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A crucial moment for the state
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