An estimated 149,080 children in Georgia were excluded from their health coverage from March 2023 through September 2023 during the Medicaid redetermination process
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution found that mismanagement, understaffing, and poor administrative performance are the reason the state is not re-enrolling Georgians
Washington – After nearly 150,000 Georgia children were dropped from their health insurance by the state of Georgia, U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff and Congresswoman Lucy McBath (GA-07) today demanded answers from the state regarding this catastrophic failure of care for children in Georgia.
According to the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), approximately 149,080 Georgia children were excluded from health insurance from March 2023 to September 2023 through a state process that violated federal requirements.
Recent reports from The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (AJC) found that hundreds of thousands of Georgians disenrolled from Medicaid by the state, including these children, failed to reenroll because of state mismanagement. The AJC reported that mismanagement, understaffing, and poor administrative performance are the reasons for Georgians’ failure to re-enroll in health insurance.
“Voicemails are always full. When they try to go to an office in person, they often find that caseworkers are actually working remotely. They send documents and the state cannot find them. And some problems lie with the Gateway computer system, which gives conflicting or inaccurate information, depending on what type of device and screen a person is using. the AJC reported.
“The state’s failure to automatically renew children at the individual level as required by the federal government and competently execute the Medicaid redetermination process puts Georgians who have lost coverage at risk.” The State of Georgia has a responsibility to administer the programs properly to serve the people of Georgia, but is currently failing to do so. Your administration must take immediate corrective action.” Senator Ossoff and Rep. McBath wrote. “The safety and well-being of children must be one of our highest concerns. It is unacceptable that children and other vulnerable Georgians have lost access to comprehensive health care through no fault of their own.”
In August 2023, Georgia reported that the state had failed to comply with federal requirements by disqualifying “household members with different eligibility statuses” from Medicaid coverage, meaning that instead of checking each child’s individual eligibility as required from the federal government, the state of Georgia took health coverage out of whole households.
Now, the state Department of Human Services is failing to effectively process re-enrollment cases, leaving huge numbers of Georgians without health insurance for extended periods of time and parents without options to get their children re-enrolled.
Senator Ossoff and Representative McBath requested answers to the following questions:
- What steps is the state taking to ensure that the Department of Human Services can quickly and efficiently work through the Medicaid redetermination?
- How does the state plan to address problems with the Gateway computer system?
- How is the state handling children’s vital health needs as the Department of Human Services re-determines their Medicaid eligibility?
- The state has chosen not to report the number of children excluded from Medicaid who still lack coverage. How many children remain to be redefined?
- Given the AJC’s reporting of mismanagement, understaffing and poor administrative performance, what is the state doing to reach Georgia families whose children have lost their insurance and ensure they understand their eligibility status and next steps to re-enroll your children?
Click here to read the letter from Senator Ossoff and Congressman McBath.
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