“Despite the left’s efforts to claw back good policy for partisan politics……the judiciary ruled the Biden administration erred in striking down our innovative healthcare waiver.”– Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp.
By Jack Bernard, contributing columnist
PEACHTREE CITY, Ga. | Our governor, Brian Kemp, is playing culture war politics to the detriment of the residents of Georgia—which has the third most uninsured of any state, 1.4 million people, nearly 14 percent of all residents.
Georgia’s most recent attempt to skirt the law will just hurt lower income Georgians, both black and white. It also harms, as well, Georgia’s middle-class taxpayers, in that we are permitting blue states like New York and California to take Georgia’s contribution to federal tax dollars and use them to fund Medicaid expansion programs in those and other states. With this effort, Georgians are losing $3 billion annually, according to the Georgia Planning and Budget Institute.
A national Medicaid expansion law was passed under President Obama to reduce the nation’s rate of uninsured, the highest of any democracy. There was no provision requiring that recipients work to receive benefits.
President Trump undercut the Medicaid expansion law, not regarding the negative impact on the poor. His administration approved “waivers” contrary to the letter and spirit of the law, including Georgia’s waiver.
President Biden corrected this Medicaid waiver travesty in December 2021, rejecting the waiver. But a Republican-appointed judge has overruled the Biden administration stating that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services had not thought through the ramifications of their decision.
Kemp
There are about two million Georgians, almost all children, elderly or disabled, who currently receive Medicaid benefits. If Georgia simply took the Federal funds to fully expand Medicaid (90 percent Federal funds), another 560,000 would be fully covered under Medicaid.
Instead, Governor Kemp states that 50,000 will be added under his waiver. However, because of the new work requirement for getting this service, many existing beneficiaries may lose coverage. Given the experience of Arkansas, which installed a similar program, the likelihood is that Kemp’s waiver will result in fewer people covered, rather than more.
It’s unfortunate, and somewhat destructively strained, that the Kemp administration has decided to take this counterproductive route. This action will cost the state 56,000 jobs and $6.5 billion in economic output.
Not only that, but both rural and urban hospitals continue to close around our state. Actions by the Kemp Administration like this only add to the problems of all hospitals. It lies entirely at the feet of Brian Kemp that he wants to play culture war politics to get re-elected, putting personal gain before the good of his constituents.
Unfortunately for Kemp, that may be the negative legacy that he will most regret when he leaves office. Meanwhile, Georgians continue to suffer from these short-sighted and purely political pronouncements.
Follow Us