ATLANTA — The Trump administration is giving Georgia’s medical insurance program another year, even though it’s only enrolled a fraction of the people it expected to help.
Georgia Pathways was set to expire at the end of the month. This extension by the Trump administration gives it until December 2026.
The program is a cornerstone of Gov. Brian Kemp’s administration. It’s the alternative to fully expanding Medicaid.
It was supposed to cover nearly 50,000 Georgians, but so far, it’s only covered just over 15,000 people.
Democrats say that shows it’s not working. Republicans say delays by the Biden administration are the cause.
A new federal government report shows Pathways is spending more on administrative costs than actually paying for healthcare, something Kemp blames on delays caused by the previous Biden administration.
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Still, that didn’t stop Senate Democrats from criticizing it.
“The pathways program is costing more in administrative costs than the actual amount of money being doled out for care,” Democratic State Sen. Josh McLaurin said.
Senate Minority Leader Harold Jones insists that fully expanding Medicaid would’ve covered more Georgians.
“Pathways has been woefully inadequate. It’s been proven to be woefully inadequate in insuring Georgians. We still have over 400,000 Georgians who are not being insured because we refuse to do Medicaid expansion,” Jones said.
But Senate Republicans defended Georgia Pathways, insisting the slow start and high administrative costs are due directly to the Biden administration obstructing initial implementation.
“Georgia Pathways is literally making a difference in people’s lives,” Republican State Sen. John Albers said. “Now that it’s on the rails and going, these things take time. You can’t solve a problem overnight, but it’s moving in the right direction.”
Georgia Pathways does have a work-school requirement. But this extension includes changes to it, including allowing parents of children six and younger to be exempt from that requirement and changing the work requirement from monthly reporting to reporting annually.
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