MACON, Ga. — A letter from the Georgia Department of Community Health says Georgia will delay the rollout of its limited Medicaid expansion. Instead of taking effect July 1, state officials want to delay its launch until at least August 1.
President Joe Biden’s administration continues to review Georgia's program and restrictions that Governor Brian Kemp wants to put in place.
Each state runs their own Medicaid program. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Georgia is ranked third for the highest rate of uninsured people.
Medicaid is the federally funded program that provides health insurance for low-income and disabled people. Georgia is one of a dozen states that has not fully expanded Medicaid to all low-income residents as laid out by the Affordable Care Act. Georgia's current program covers low-income people in several categories including those who are, pregnant, disabled, or legally blind.
“I've been trying to get health insurance for the past 13 years or so, and I've just fallen through the cracks every single time. I've applied to every program. I've applied to Medicaid on my own and I just fall through the cracks because I just don't qualify,” said Brownlee.
Deanna Brownlee, 38, says her health conditions have put her out of work since 2008.
“The biggest difficulty in that is that my life kind of stays stale in terms of making progress. I can't make any progress because the thing with trying to get disability is you have to build a case, but in order to do that, you have to see doctors and hospitals and get this diagnosis and get that diagnosis and you can't do that without health insurance,” she said.
Governor Brian Kemp's plan would extend Medicaid to Georgians that work, attend school or volunteer 80 hours a month to qualify for coverage. Brownlee looks forward to brighter days.
“My hope is that we eventually have universal healthcare. Other developed countries have it and it's not detrimental, it's only helpful as far as I've seen, and I strongly believe that nobody should have to go into astronomical debt just to save their own live or just to get the health care that they need,” she said.
Brownlee says she has to depend on donations to pay for doctor visits and medication.
Governor Kemp's office estimates his plan would cover about 50,000 of the state's 400,000 uninsured low-income adults.