Georgia

Can a Medicaid plan that requires work succeed? First year of Georgia experiment is not promising

Published

1 year ago

July 14, 2024

Can a Medicaid plan that requires work succeed? First year of Georgia experiment is not promising

ATLANTA (AP) — By now, Georgia officials expected their new Medicaid plan, the only one in the nation with a work requirement, to provide health insurance to 25,000 low-income residents and possibly tens of thousands more.

But a year since its launch, Pathways to Coverage has roughly 4,300 members, much lower than what state officials projected and a tiny fraction of the roughly half-million state residents who could be covered if Georgia, like 40 other states, agreed to a full Medicaid expansion.

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp’s office has presented Pathways as a compromise that would add people to Medicaid while also helping them transition off it. Blaming the Biden administration for delaying the program’s start, Kemp’s office says it’s redoubling efforts to sign people up.

Health and public policy experts believe the enrollment numbers, dismal even compared to what Kemp’s office had said Pathways could achieve, reflect a fundamental flaw: The work requirement is just too burdensome.

“It’s clear that the Georgia Pathways experiment is a huge failure,” said Leo Cuello, a research professor at the Georgetown University McCourt School of Public Policy.

Pathways requires all recipients to show at least 80 hours of work monthly, volunteer activity, schooling or vocational rehabilitation. It also limits coverage to able-bodied adults earning no more than the federal poverty line, which is $15,060 for a single person and $31,200 for a family of four.

Cuello noted the program makes no exceptions for people who are caring for children or other family, lack transportation, suffer from drug addiction or face a myriad other barriers to employment. Then there are people with informal jobs that make documenting their hours impossible.

In rural Clay County in southwest Georgia, Dr. Karen Kinsell said many of her patients are too sick to work. Over the last year, Kinsell has suggested Pathways to about 30 patients who might meets its requirements, but none have signed up.

“I think the general idea is it would be too much work and too complicated for little benefit,” she said.

Just going online each month to submit proof of work can be a significant obstacle, said Harry Heiman, a health policy professor at Georgia State University.

“For low-income people who are worried about staying housed and putting food on the table, one more thing to do is often one thing too many,” he said.

The program’s poor showing so far may have implications beyond Georgia. Republicans in other states in recent months also have proposed requiring work to get Medicaid. In Mississippi, Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann in February cited Georgia’s Pathways program as a model.

A second term for former President Donald Trump would significantly boost the prospects for such programs. The Trump administration approved Medicaid work requirement plans in 13 states, only to have the Biden administration revoke those waivers in 2021. Pathways survived after a court fight.

Georgia launched the program on July 1, 2023 with little fanfare, and public health experts say they have seen scant effort to promote it or sign people up.

The launch coincided with a federally mandated review of the eligibility of all 2.7 million Medicaid recipients in the state following the end of the COVID-19 public health emergency, another challenging task for Georgia officials.

Still, they did not scale-back their enrollment expectations. Days before the launch, then-Georgia Department of Community Health Commissioner Caylee Noggle told The Associated Press that Pathways could cover up to 100,000 people in year one. The 25,000 estimate had been in the state’s 2019 application for Pathways.

Garrison Douglas, a spokesman for Kemp, said in a statement that Pathways had received “extraordinary interest from thousands of low income, able-bodied Georgians,” and the state was “still fighting to reclaim the time stolen” from it by the Biden administration.

The program was supposed to launch in 2021, but the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services objected to the work requirement that February and later revoked it. Georgia sued and a federal judge reinstated the work mandate in 2022.

As of June 7, 2024, Pathways had 4,318 members, according to the Georgia Department of Community Health. The agency said in an email that promotion efforts have included social media content and streaming ads on TV and radio, while a “robust” outreach campaign was being planned.

“Pathways deserves more time to see if it reaches its potential,” said Chris Denson, director of policy and research at the conservative Georgia Public Policy Foundation.

Denson said there is general agreement even among Pathways’ supporters that the state could have done a better marketing job. But he said a fundamental tenet of Pathways — transitioning people through employment, job training or other qualifying activities to private insurance — is sound, particularly given that many primary care physicians in the state are not accepting new Medicaid patients.

To critics, the actual first-year figure is all the more galling given how many people full Medicaid expansion could cover at no extra cost to the state, at least initially.

An analysis by the left-leaning Georgia Budget and Policy Institute found Georgia’s Medicaid program would receive so much more federal funding under full expansion that in its first year the program could cover 482,000 residents for the same cost as 100,000 Pathways’ recipients.

North Carolina, which fully expand Medicaid in December, has enrolled nearly 500,000 people in about half the time Pathways has been in effect.

That broader Medicaid expansion was a key part of President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul in 2010. In exchange for offering Medicaid to nearly all adults with incomes up to 138% of the federal poverty level, states would get more federal funding for the new enrollees.

The higher eligibility limit is $20,783 annually for a single person and $43,056 for a family of four. None of the 40 states that have accepted the deal require recipients to work in order to qualify.

But Kemp, like many other Republican governors, rejected full expansion, arguing that the state’s long-term costs would end up being too high.

Republicans in the Georgia Legislature floated the possibility of full expansion in 2024 before abandoning the effort.

For now, Georgia officials show no sign of giving up on Pathways. The program is set to expire at the end of September 2025. But in February, the state sued the Biden administration to try to extend it to 2028. A federal judge heard arguments last month.

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Related Topics:a Access to health care Brian P. Kemp delbert hosemann Featured GA State Wire General news Georgia Government programs health n P Politics U.S. News®

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Georgia

Georgia football: How 5 preseason predictions played out, some still pending

Published

9 hours ago

December 25, 2025

Press Room

Georgia football: How 5 preseason predictions played out, some still pending

ATHENS — It’s fair to say the Georgia football season has been filled with surprises, many of the most pleasant variety.

The great success Gunner Stockton has been the most surprising.

Raise your hand if you had Stockton finishing in the Top 10 of the Heisman Trophy voting ahead of the likes of preseason favorites Arch Manning, DJ Lagway, LaNorris Sellers, Garrett Nussmeier and Cade Klubnik.

Here’s a look back at this author’s five fearless Georgia preseason predictions, and how they turned out.

1. Ryan Puglisi will play a key role

To this point? Not at all, and Georgia fans and likely Puglisi himself, the good teammate that he is, probably hopes this one stays wrong.

But if it doesn’t — if the unexpected happens and Stockton has to miss some action in this rough and tumble game that has seen former UGA starting quarterbacks Jacon Eason, D’Wan Mathis, Stetson Bennett, J.T. Daniels and Carson Beck all miss time — Puglisi has the talent to help UGA finish the job.

2. Zachariah Branch will have 1,000 receiving yards

Branch leads the SEC with 73 catches, but he’s at 744 yards — 266 short of the magic 1,000-yard number.

At the current clip of 57.2 yards per game, Branch wouldn’t make 1,000 even if UGA plays the maximum three games that could be remaining.

Branch would need to average 85.3 yards per game over the next three games to hit 1,000 — we’ll stick with the prediction for now.

3 Georgia will average 200-yards plus rushing per game

Looking back, this was a bit too much to expect with four new offensive linemen and a new lead back.

Missouri (234.1) was the only SEC team to average more than 200 yards rushing per game, and of the remaining CFP teams, only Indiana (221.2) and Oregon (217.1) are averaging more than 200 yards per game.

Georgia is averaging 186.6 yards rushing per game — a major jump from the 124.4 yards per game averaged last year — but short of the preseason prediction.

This one came up wrong and seems unlikely to change with the level of competition still ahead.

4. Georgia’s home win streak will end

Yep, it happened against Alabama, 24-21, back on Sept. 27 when the Tide survived and snapped the Bulldogs’ 33-game home field win streak.

The prediction wasn’t so much about knowing Alabama would be the team to beat Georgia, so much as the sheer odds of such a feat continuing with capable teams like the Tide, Ole Miss and Texas all coming to Sanford Stadium.

5. Georgia will play in the SEC championship game

This one was spot on, and so was the logic ….

“Smart’s teams most often get better as the season progresses, and while one SEC loss seems more likely than not, the feeling here is the head coach will get whatever goes wrong fixed.

This Georgia team has stressed the sort of unity great teams possess and have likely realized they will need to band together to accomplish their goals….

The offense, while no longer possessing an NFL talent at quarterback, has more dynamic and consistent pass-catching weapons in addition to a deeper offensive backfield with tailback Nate Frazier ready to prove more reliable and certain with the ball in his hands.

It’s too early to predict Georgia will win the SEC Championship Game as injuries always seem to play a role.”

Injuries did play a role — but for both teams — and the Bulldogs handled those injuries and the playoff-related pressure than Alabama did.

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Georgia

Georgia Bulldogs Christmas Trivia: Festive Facts and Holiday History for Dawg Fans

Published

21 hours ago

December 25, 2025

Press Room

Georgia Bulldogs Christmas Trivia: Festive Facts and Holiday History for Dawg Fans

A handful of Georgia Bulldogs football questions to test the knowledge of Dawg fans during the holiday season.

The Christmas season has arrived as families all over the world gather round to celebrate the holiday. And while there will not be any Georgia Football to watch until the new year, there is still plenty of time for Bulldog fans to brush up on their Dawgs trivia.

So, as many families enjoy time off for the holiday season, here are a handful of Bulldogs related question to test the knowledge of one of college football most passionate fanbases.

Georgia Bulldogs Christmas Day Trivia

Sep 13, 2025; Knoxville, Tennessee, USA; Georgia Bulldogs head coach Kirby Smart looks on during overtime against the Tennessee Volunteers at Neyland Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Alan Poizner-Imagn Images | Alan Poizner-Imagn Images

Questions:

Editor’s Note**: Answers for this article will be made available at the bottom of this page.

Question 1: Kirby Smart has coached Georgia in three total Sugar Bowl matchups. What is his overall record in those games?

Question 2: Which Bulldog receiver currently leads the Bulldogs in receptions and receiving yards this season?

Question 3: Georgia won 11 games during the 2025 regular season. How many times have the Bulldogs accomplished this regular-season feat under Kirby Smart?

Question 4: Nate Frazier is less than 200 yards away from surpassing 1000 rushing yards this season. Who is the last Georgia running back to accomplish this feat?

Question 5: Ellis Robinson currently has four interceptions this season. Who is the last Georgia Bulldog to achieve this feat?

Question 6: How many total touchdowns has Gunner Stockton accounted for this season?

Answers:

Answer 1: Kirby Smart is 1-2 in Sugar Bowl matchups. The Dawgs’ last appearance was during the 2024 season against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

Answer 2: Zachariach Branch currently leads the Bulldogs in both receptions and receiving yards. He is just four catches shy of breaking Georgia’s all-time single-season record

Answer 3: Georgia has won 11 or more regular-season games under Kirby Smart on six other occasions (2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023)

Answer 4: D’Andre Swift is the last running back to have surpassed 1,000 rushing yards. He did so during the 2019 season.

Answer 5: Tykee Smith is the last player to record four or more interceptions during a season (2023). No player has recorded more than four interceptions in a single season under Kirby Smart.

Answer 6: Gunner Stockton has accounted for 31 total touchdowns this season. With 23 through the air and eight on the ground.

The Bulldogs will be back in action on Thursday, January 1st, to take on the Ole Miss Rebels in the Allstate Sugar Bowl.

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Georgia

Georgia official responds to 315,000 Ballots not properly signed in 2020

Published

1 day ago

December 24, 2025

Press Room

Georgia official responds to 315,000 Ballots not properly signed in 2020

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger has said a “clerical error” in the state does not “erase valid, legal votes,” responding to renewed scrutiny of Georgia’s 2020 election results, which former President Donald Trump has repeatedly and falsely claimed was “stolen” from him.

Earlier this month, Fulton County acknowledged before the Georgia State Election Board that more than 130 tabulator tapes from the 2020 election were not signed, a lapse officials said involved about 315,000 ballots and which brought renewed scrutiny and questioning of the results even though multiple audits, including a hand count, affirmed the results.

Newsweek has reached out to Fulton County Chairman Robb Pitts for comment via email on Wednesday.

Why It Matters

Trump and his allies have consistently claimed, without evidence of widespread voter fraud, that the 2020 election was stolen and that former President Joe Biden did not win in Georgia and other states.

In early January 2021, ahead of Biden taking office, Trump infamously called Raffensperger, a Republican, asking him to help “find” enough votes to overturn the election. Biden won the 2020 election with 306 electoral votes to Trump’s 232, and even if Georgia was flipped for Trump, Biden still would have won the election.

There have been multiple audits, recounts and investigations into Georgia’s 2020 election, including a statewide hand recount and audit that confirmed the original results, as well as reviews by state officials and election boards addressing procedural errors and fraud allegations.

What To Know

Earlier this month, Fulton County attorney Ann Brumbaugh told the Georgia State Election Board that the county “does not dispute that the tapes were not signed,” calling the missing signatures “a violation of the rule.”

Georgia state Rule 183-1-12-.12 states that after polls close, and in order to tabulate results, “the poll manager and the two witnesses shall cause each ballot scanner to print three tapes of the tabulated results and shall sign each tape indicating that it is a true and correct copy of the tape produced by the ballot scanner.” This was not properly done for more than 130 tapes, which accounts for around 315,000 votes.

However, the lack of signature does not negate the ballots, and they have been recounted multiple times to verify results.

In a Saturday X post, Raffensperger reiterated this, writing “all voters were verified with photo ID and lawfully cast their ballots.” He continued, “A clerical error at the end of the day does not erase valid, legal votes.”

The news of the missing signatures has ignited claims that the election was stolen among several Republicans and Make America Great Again (MAGA) leaders, including Elon Musk chiming in that “massive voting fraud [was] uncovered,” and the president who reshared a post on his Truth Social account arguing that in Georgia “intentional human intervention” led the election to to be taken from Trump.

What People Are Saying

Representative Mike Collins, a Georgia Republican, said in December 20 X post: “President Trump is owed a massive apology. Turns out over 300,000 early votes in the 2020 election were illegally certified but still included in the final results. I’m tired of empty words from weak leaders. The people of Georgia deserve action.”

Fulton County Chairman Robb Pitts told Channel 2: “We do not have anything to hide, and we will never have anything to hide as long as I’m here.”

Steve Bannon said in a GETTR post on the matter: “Mr President, Please No More Strongly Worded Letters from DoJ…Call Out the U.S. Marshals, Seize the Ballots, the Machines and Arrest the Guilty.”

Donald Trump Jr. said in a December 19 X post: “So what we all knew back in 2020, what we all stated out loud and everyone in the media, the establishment, and the Washington DC machine lied about ended up being 100% true. I’m so shocked! Yet another conspiracy theory proven right!”

What Happens Next

On Friday, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney granted the election board access to the country’s 2020 ballots. He ruled that the election board must pay for the matter, which Fulton County has estimated it will cost nearly $400,000 to comply with the subpoena. The judge has ordered the county to produce a detailed cost list by January 7.

Brumbaugh has noted that “procedures have been updated,” and “since then, the training has been enhanced, the poll watchers are trained specifically. They’ve got to sign the tapes in the morning, and they’ve got to sign the tapes when they’re run at the end of the day.”

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