Last summer, as political debate swirled over the future of Georgia’s experiment with Medicaid work requirements, Gov. Brian Kemp held a press conference to unveil a three-minute testimonial video featuring a mechanic who works on classic cars.
When the state of Georgia handed Deloitte Consulting a $10.7 million marketing contract last July to promote the nation’s only Medicaid work requirement program, the initiative was in need of serious PR.
13 states got the greenlight to add work requirements during the first Trump Administration, but courts halted those plans. Now that Trump is back in the White House, some states are trying again.
Some lawmakers are pushing to require that Medicaid recipients work in order to get or keep coverage, and some states already try to help them find jobs. But the effects of those efforts are unclear.
By now, Georgia officials expected their new Medicaid plan to provide health insurance to 25,000 low income residents. Pathways to Coverage launched last July and is the only Medicaid plan in the country that requires beneficiaries to work or engage in other activities to get coverage.
Republican Gov. Brian Kemp’s Georgia Pathways to Coverage program has seen anemic enrollment while chalking up millions in start-up costs — largely in technology and consulting fees. Critics say the money’s being wasted on a costly and ineffective alternative to Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion.
In an effort to avoid defaulting on the nation's loans, lawmakers created updates to SNAP, the nation's largest food assistance safety net. There are new work requirements as well as exemptions.
The Treasury estimates the country could default on its loans early next month. But negotiators are still hashing out key provisions like whether to expand work requirements for federal assistance.
The Trump administration has given states ways to restrict spending on the government insurance program for low-income Americans. A Biden administration would expand Medicaid coverage.
