Georgia
Can a Medicaid plan that requires work succeed? Georgia experiment, 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.
ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) — High pressure is keeping North Georgia in a dry pattern through Tuesday, but a cold front approaching from the northwest will bring a chance of showers and thunderstorms back to the region by Wednesday and Thursday.
Your Next Two Days: Enjoy the Sunshine
Today will feature mostly sunny skies with highs climbing into the upper 70s in north Georgia. Light southwest winds will keep conditions comfortable for outdoor activities. Overnight lows will dip into the 50s.
Tuesday will see increasing clouds as the next weather system approaches from the northwest, but the day will remain dry. Highs will reach the upper 70s to middle 80s, with lows Tuesday night in the upper 50s to low 60s.
Midweek Changes: Showers and Storms Return
The pattern shifts dramatically Wednesday and Thursday as a cold front moves through the region. Models show good agreement that instability will build during the day Wednesday, with temperatures climbing into the low to mid 80s and dewpoints rising into the low 60s.
Shower and thunderstorm chances will increase Wednesday and Thursday, with rain and storms in northwest Georgia by 8 p.m. Wednesday evening.
The rain will overspread all of north Georgia after midnight and continue through your entire Thursday morning commute.
Thursday is a First Alert Weather Day for rain and storms in the morning.
The rain is expected to move out around lunch on Thursday.
The Weekend Outlook
Cooler air will follow the frontal passage on Thursday, with highs dropping into the 70s Friday and Saturday. Overnight lows will dip into the 40s and low 50s.
Our next best chance of rain after Thursday will be on Mother’s Day.
Copyright 2026 WANF. All rights reserved.
ADEL, Ga. — Reigning Top Fuel world champion Doug Kalitta made the quickest run of 2026 in front of a sellout crowd on Saturday at South Georgia Motorsports Park, powering to his first No. 1 qualifier of the season at the NHRA Southern Nationals.
J.R. Todd (Funny Car), Greg Anderson (Pro Stock) and Matt Smith (Pro Stock Motorcycle) also qualified No. 1 at the fifth of 20 races during the 2026 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season.
Kalitta, the current points leader, went 3.657-seconds at 342.37 mph in his 12,000-horsepower Mac Tools dragster in front of a capacity crowd, picking up his 67th career top spot in NHRA’s debut at the facility. The veteran is after back-to-back wins after getting the victory last weekend in Charlotte as he continues to roll early in the season.
After Saturday’s spectacular run, he’ll get a bye run to open eliminations on Sunday and Kalitta was thrilled with how the team performed in front of a crowd that waited out a lengthy rain delay.
“This is for the fans, they definitely held in there,” Kalitta said of the sellout crowd. “It’s been a long day, but it was just one of those deals, with a big storm coming through. I’m just glad that we ran and will have good weather for tomorrow.
“That thing left and it started to square the tire, and then it just kind of cleared up and just ran. I could tell it was running strong and running hard. Alan (Johnson, crew chief), he’s the master, I can tell you that.”
A day after his record-breaking run of 345.00 mph on Friday, Shawn Langdon followed it up with the second-fastest run in NHRA history on Saturday, going 344.91 and is qualified second with a 3.683. Billy Torrence took the third spot after going 3.710 at 338.00.
In Funny Car, J.R. Todd stayed atop the field and earned his second No. 1 qualifier in the past three races thanks to Friday’s stellar run of 3.887 at 339.28 in his 12,000-horsepower DHL Toyota GR Supra.
Todd earned the 16th top spot of his career and said the team made an aggressive attempt during Saturday’s lone qualifying session. He didn’t make it down the track on that run, but the past champion still takes plenty of confidence into raceday, where he’ll open eliminations against Daniel Wilkerson.
Todd has done just about everything but win a race during what has been a strong 2026 season, something he hopes to change on Sunday in NHRA’s debut at SGMP.
“On that last run, Dickie [Venables, crew chief] and Todd Smith said, ‘We’re going to throw down’. We had nothing to lose because we were on the pole. I was a little unsure that 3.88 from yesterday would hold up, but once we saw Matt Hagen run in front of us and saw what they did, we felt good,” Todd said. “It was trying to run, but it just got loose. We were definitely trying to put a 340 [mph] on the board. That would be cool, but either way, I’ll take a win over 340 any day. We put ourselves in a good position.
“These fans are dedicated. The fans were so appreciative and thanked us for being there. I was like, ‘No, thank you for having us here’. That’s how the fans are here.”
Chad Green jumped to second in the final session with a 3.894 at 323.89 and Jordan Vandergriff took third with Friday’s 3.924 at 325.14.
Pro Stock’s Greg Anderson picked up his fourth straight No. 1 qualifier, as nobody came close to topping his run of 6.498 at 210.60 from Friday in his HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro.
Anderson made the best run in Saturday’s qualifying session, giving the six-time champ his 144th career No. 1 qualifier. He’ll open eliminations against Troy Coughlin Jr., looking to win for the second time this season and possibly jump into the points lead with a big day.
“It’s been a marathon day, but to get that extra run, we’re very appreciative. The air was good yesterday and better again today, and it should be even better tomorrow,” Anderson said. “We’re just struggling to match our cars up with the starting line and there’s no excuse for that. We’ll figure it out by tomorrow.
“We’ll make the right adjustments. They’ll be fine tomorrow. The crew chiefs are going to have to make a lot of decisions that they may not want to make. Drivers have to be ready for anything, not just cut a good light, but it just could be a pedal-fest out there. You never know. So you’ve got to find a way to get the finish line first.”
Eric Latino took second thanks to Friday’s 6.508 at 209.75 and Aaron Stanfield qualified third with a run of 6.525 at 210.60.
Matt Smith’s 6.669 at 203.03 on his Denso Auto Parts Buell held up from Friday, as the six-time world champion continues to be the only rider in Pro Stock Motorcycle to reach the 6.60s this season. He earned his second straight No. 1 qualifier of the season and the 61st in his career.
Smith made a strong run to close out Saturday during the lone qualifying session, going 6.728 at 199.29 and takes plenty of momentum into Sunday, where he’ll attempt to pick up his first victory of the season.
“I am looking forward to race day tomorrow,” Smith said. “I like my chances in the first round (with a bye). You know, this is the South, and I’ve run so many races down here in Georgia and there’s a lot of motorcycle racing fans down here, and they stuck around to watch us today. We put on a good show. This is a great facility, a fast facility and hopefully there’ll be a good fanbase turnout tomorrow.”
Charlotte winner Gaige Herrera qualified second with a run of 6.705 at 202.30 and reigning world champ Richard Gadson took third after going 6.730 at 201.37.
Six Georgia high school students were reportedly hospitalized – including two with serious injuries – after a high-speed rollover crash on a winding local road notorious for fatal wrecks.
The single-car crash unfolded Thursday morning when a teen boy driving a 2021 Honda Accord went off Vaughn Road in Newman, about 40 miles southwest of Atlanta, while tearing around a curve, according to the Georgia State Patrol, multiple outlets reported.
The car then smashed into a utility pole before slamming into a large tree.
“All of a sudden I heard a bang and then my electricity went out and so I was like, ‘God, something happened,’” a local resident told Atlanta News First of the late-morning crash.
“I could hear all the kids in the car and they were trying to get themselves out and I just knew something was bad.”
The Northgate High School students were rushed to various hospitals, with two teenage girls airlifted to nearby medical centers in serious condition.
Footage from local reports showed tire tracks stretching along the roadside near the crash site, with the front of the black sedan completely obliterated and wrecked beyond recognition.
“A lot of people, I watch them come around the curve, it looks like they’re coming around on two wheels,” said Debbie Canup, who has lived on the problematic 25 mph road for 30 years and spent much of that time pushing for stop signs and speed bumps, the outlet reported.
“We get what I call eye-candy, which is a sign that says no thru traffic, a sign that says speed limit strictly enforced, but it’s not.”
The school district sent a letter to parents about the crash, offering thoughts and prayers to the victims’ families and providing counseling service to students in need, FOX 5 Atlanta reported.
However, concerned parents questioned why the students weren’t in school when the accident occurred.
“At that time of day, they should have been at school,” Northgate parent Tarrell Pledger told Atlanta News.
“So I’m just curious as to the details and how it affects the other kids as far as how they fear or feel moving forward because it’s real.”
The grim scene, marked by multiple memorials, has a chilling history of deadly wrecks.
One teen died and three others were injured in a 2016 crash, with another teen also killed in a single-vehicle wreck in 2023, according to the Newnan Times-Herald.
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