This afternoon, the board of Georgia's Dept. of Community Health approved the Medicaid waiver that will cost more to cover fewer people than Medicaid expansion. A few changes were made in response to public comments submitted on the plan. They include:
The Department of Community Health will evaluate the course load of part-time students and the number of hours spent on other qualifying activities. Some part-time students may now meet the work reporting requirements and be eligible for Medicaid.
Adults who are currently enrolled in Medicaid through the Transitional Medicaid Assistance program are no longer included in the waiver, so they will not be subject to any of the work requirements or cost-sharing.
And updates to increase the cost per enrollee. The total enrollment estimates remained the same. In the fifth year, the waiver is now expected to cost $306 million in state and federal funds compared to the $233 million estimated in the original application.
Great @wabenews on the broader context and what comes next: wabe.org/georgia-might-…
The state will now submit the waiver for federal approval, a key part of which will be whether Georgia will be the first state granted the full 90% funding match for a partial expansion of Medicaid.
