Georgia
Talk of Georgia-style full Medicaid expansion spurs bipartisan buzz at state Capitol – Georgia Recorder
The Gold Dome was aflutter during the first week of the legislative session over whether Georgia Republicans might move to fully expand Medicaid this year.
A high-ranking Republican leader elevated the issue further when he uttered the words “Medicaid expansion” during a prominent speech to Georgia’s business community Wednesday. House Speaker Jon Burns said House lawmakers “will continue to gather facts” about a “private option” for expanding Medicaid.
In particular, several GOP lawmakers have voiced interest in an Arkansas-style model, which purchases private insurance for individuals on the marketplace instead of adding more people to the state-run Medicaid program.
In a statement Friday, Republican Lt. Gov. Burt Jones sounded receptive to the concept. Jones has pressed for changes to the state’s business regulations for medical providers, and discussions about Medicaid expansion are happening alongside the debate over to what extent Georgia should remake its certificate of need rules.
“I have never wavered on my position that expanding access to health care, especially in rural parts of the state, should be a priority for all Georgians,” Jones said.
“The legislative process allows for different options to be presented on a variety of issues. I look forward to addressing this critical issue this upcoming session to help make access to quality health care a reality, regardless of someone’s zip code.”
This all represents what appears to be a softening of the decade-long resistance in Georgia to Medicaid expansion, which is a central piece of former President Barack Obama’s legacy. But one of the big questions of the session will be this: Does that shift in thinking extend to the governor’s mansion?
Georgia Pathways to Coverage has enrolled about 2,300 people since launching in July. About 345,000 are thought to be eligible for the Medicaid program, according to the state’s estimate.
The governor did not mention Pathways in his State of the State address Thursday even as he touted other elements of his signature health care plans, like a reinsurance program that has helped lower premiums.
Spokesman Garrison Douglas said Wednesday that the governor “has championed and continues to support” Pathways and Georgia Access, which also includes a state-run exchange set to launch later this year.
Pathways has attracted national attention because it made Georgia the only state to have a work requirement as part of its Medicaid program, with it only applying to those who are newly eligible.
‘We say a rose by any other name is still a rose’
The low enrollment in Pathways has ratcheted up the pressure on Georgia Republicans to change course.
Georgia – which has one of the highest uninsured rates in the country – is now one of 10 states that have not expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, with neighboring North Carolina recently expanding the health insurance program for the poor.
“This isn’t just a policy oversight, it is a moral failing,” state Sen. Nabilah Islam Parkes, a Lawrenceville Democrat, said at a press conference Thursday. “Hundreds of thousands of our people are left without adequate health care.”
But other Democrats and long-time health care advocates have expressed optimism over the recent chatter, even if the conversation is not centered on traditional Medicaid expansion.
“I’m hearing the same thing that others are hearing – that this is the year that we’re going to have some sort of Medicaid expansion,” Rep. Billy Mitchell, a Stone Mountain Democrat who chairs House minority caucus, told a reporter Thursday. “It may not be called Medicaid expansion because it’s not politically palatable to certain groups. We say a rose by any other name is still a rose.”
Rep. Michelle Au, a Johns Creek Democrat who is an anesthesiologist, said she was encouraged that talk of any kind of Medicaid expansion is now happening in Georgia.
“Even having this conversation at all, and considering something in a serious way, is already way better than anything that we’ve seen for a decade,” Au said in an interview.
Au led an unofficial “hearing” on Medicaid expansion that filled a meeting room and had people standing in the hallways to hear health care experts, hospital representatives and others talk about the impact of Medicaid expansion on the state’s economy and the health of Georgians.
Au, who is a leading Democratic voice on health care issues in Georgia, has regularly held educational forums on Medicaid expansion. But this year’s event was different.
“There’s a feeling in the air: something has changed, and it’s like, we’re really talking about this. This might happen,” Au said. “And many of our holdout-state neighbors have recently changed – states that we have a lot in common with. So, it’s not unreasonable to go down this path to think that there is a chance this could happen.”
Scott Raynes was among the speakers at Au’s meeting. Raynes is president and CEO of Brunswick-based Southeast Georgia Health System and was a member of the House committee that looked at ways to modernize the state’s certificate of need regulations.
“Let’s not get hung up on the fact that we are one of the last 10 or 11 to even explore this,” Raynes said. “Let’s take advantage of the learnings of those states before us and make a good decision. A good economic decision, a decision that is really apolitical if you will, and do what’s right on behalf of the citizens of the state of Georgia, and frankly, help the industry of health care within it.”
Laura Colbert, executive director of Georgians for a Healthy Future, which advocates for Medicaid expansion, had this message for those who attended the organization’s Health Care Unscrambled event held Thursday: “I’m not going to count our chickens before they hatch – we don’t have expansion yet – but it’s coming.”
Georgia Pathways
The governor has proposed spending $1.7 million in this year’s budget to integrate Pathways into the state’s eligibility system for Medicaid and other public aid services, which is a move that is intended to increase enrollment in the program and improve the effectiveness of caseworkers who are processing applications, according to the governor’s Office of Budget and Planning.
The funding would also connect the state’s system to Georgia Access as Georgia moves toward a state-based exchange for health insurance under the Affordable Care Act.
Pathways slightly expanded eligibility for Medicaid coverage in Georgia but also requires participants to complete 80 hours each month of work, school or other qualifying activity, and critics have long warned that the reporting requirements to show the hours were completed would create a paperwork burden.
The program was approved under the Trump administration and then delayed by the Biden administration. Georgia moved forward with launching the program in July after successfully challenging the federal government in court.
The federally approved waiver that allowed Georgia to move forward with the program expires in the fall of 2025.
During a conversation about Medicaid expansion at the Health Care Unscrambled event Thursday, Savannah Republican Sen. Ben Watson praised the state’s reinsurance program and urged health care advocates to help enroll people in Pathways.
“The one that’s been a bit of a challenge, and I would challenge you to help our patients to get enrolled, is that 100% on down,” said Watson, who chairs the Senate Health and Human Services Committee.
As Pathways is being rolled out, an army of state workers is also in the process of checking the eligibility of all 2.8 million people covered by Medicaid after the end of a pandemic-era federal rule that protected coverage during the public health crisis. Hundreds of thousands of Georgians are expected to lose coverage as part of what’s known as the unwinding.
Georgia
Mom says viral video shows her being booted from Georgia restaurant for breastfeeding her baby
Aris Kopiec says she felt “belittled” after capturing video of a man yelling at her holding her sleeping baby inside Toccoa Riverside Restaurant. (Credit: @ariskopes/Instagram)
A Florida mother says a man she believed to be the owner of a popular riverside restaurant in Georgia yelled at her and ordered her to leave after she breastfed her infant — an encounter she says she recorded on her cellphone that shows a man shouting, “Get on out of here!”
The incident happened at Toccoa Riverside Restaurant in Blue Ridge, according to Aris Kopiec, and has since spread widely online, reigniting scrutiny of the business’ treatment of young families.
Kopiec told FOX Business she was dining with her husband, three young daughters — ages 4, 2 and 4 months — and family friends when her baby began to cry.
She said she latched her infant, covered up immediately, and ensured she was fully concealed from the view of anyone except her own table.
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The Kopiec family dined at the Toccoa Riverside Restaurant together with friends before the viral video incident happened. (Courtesy of Shyla Shoots / Fox News)
“The only people who could see me were at my table,” she said. “I covered myself immediately.”
Kopiec said she pulled her shirt back down and was preparing to take her older children outside when she bumped into either a chair or another guest in the crowded enclosed porch area. That, she says, is when the restaurant’s owner stepped toward her.
“He looked at me and said, ‘You can’t do that here,’” Kopiec recalled. “I wasn’t even breastfeeding at that point. I was holding my baby in one arm and helping my kids with the other. He wouldn’t let me get any words out. He kept saying, ‘I have to protect my restaurant. You need to go to a corner.’”
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A mother says she recorded a Georgia restaurant’s owner shouting at her after she breastfed her child. (@ariskopes via Instagram / Fox News)
Kopiec said she and her friend took the older children outside to wait while their spouses paid inside. Kopiec said staff apologized to the men in the group, but not to her.
She said when she returned to gather her belongings, the confrontation escalated. She said she calmly informed the man she claims is the owner that Georgia law explicitly protects breastfeeding in public places.
“I just told him, if he wanted to protect his restaurant, he should follow the law,” she said. “That’s when he lost his mind.”
Kopiec said the man refused to give his name. After her friend mentioned having his photograph, Kopiec began recording.
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Kopiec told FOX Business that staff at the restaurant apologized to her husband and her friend’s husband, but not her. (Courtesy of Shyla Shoots / Fox News)
In the video she shared with FOX Business, a man standing behind the counter shouts, “Get on out of here!” as Kopiec holds her infant in her arms.
“It was so aggressive,” she said. “I knew I had to get my kids out of there.”
Kopiec left the restaurant shaken.
“Honestly, I felt like I was in the wrong,” she said. “My instinct was to apologize. But then I reminded myself — women have a legal right to breastfeed. I did nothing wrong.”
Public records and local business listings confirm 67-year-old Tim Richter as the owner of Toccoa Riverside Restaurant. In September, a spotlight from the Fannin County Chamber of Commerce via Facebook also identified Richter as the longtime owner and praised the restaurant’s hospitality, a characterization many online commenters have contrasted sharply with the tone in the new viral video.
In a phone call with FOX Business, a man who identified himself as the restaurant’s owner declined to confirm whether he is the individual shown in the video. He defended the business, saying, “I’ve had the restaurant for thirty-three years. We’ve been breastfeeding for thirty-three years,” and claimed the incident had been “staged for clicks.”
Toccoa Riverside Restaurant did not provide any further comment.
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Aris Kopiec said she never felt so “belittled” as when the man she believes to be the owner of Toccoa Riverside Restaurant yelled at her for feeding her baby. (Courtesy of Shyla Shoots / Fox News)
Georgia law states that a mother may breastfeed “in any location where the mother and baby are otherwise authorized to be,” protecting nursing mothers from being removed or restricted for feeding their children.
Etiquette expert and author Alison Cheperdak told FOX Business the filmed confrontation raises serious concerns. Cheperdak’s etiquette book for everyday situations, “Was it Something I Said?” is set to publish early next spring.
“Breastfeeding is natural and legally protected,” Cheperdak said. “Hospitality is about care, not confrontation, and raising one’s voice at a guest is never acceptable.”
She added that a mother owes no apology for feeding her child.
“A calm explanation is appropriate, but the responsibility is on the restaurant to treat her with respect,” she said. “Even if a restaurant wants a quieter atmosphere, policies should never undermine basic respect for families.”
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A Georgia restaurant implemented a surcharge for “adults unable to parent,” on their menu. (WAGAweb)
Local Atlanta outlets, as well as Food and Wine, reported in 2023 that Toccoa Riverside raised eyebrows for posting an “adult surcharge” for parents deemed “unable to parent,” sparking backlash from families who said they had been reprimanded for their children’s behavior.
A FOX 5 Atlanta report on the surcharge controversy said parents claimed the owner had scolded their children and allegedly made a 3-year-old cry.
Kopiec said she hopes the attention leads to positive change. “Every nursing mom deserves to feel safe feeding her baby,” she said. “We have a legal right to breastfeed, period.”
GET FOX BUSINESS ON THE GO
As for the restaurant, she said she has chosen not to hold onto anger. “I’ve chosen to forgive,” she said. “But I would really like to see them welcome breastfeeding moms.”
The video continues to circulate widely online, where commenters are debating breastfeeding protections and the treatment of young mothers and infants in public spaces.
No. 6 Ole Miss (11-1, 7-1 SEC) will host the Tulane Green Wave at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium next Saturday in what will be the Rebels’ College Football Playoff debut.
After a historic 2025 campaign for the program in Oxford, Pete Golding and Co. will have home-field advantage in the first-round of the College Football Playoff against a fiery Tulane squad.
“I think this is something that this program is going to be the expectation moving forward. That’s something that I’m used to,” head coach Pete Golding said.
“That’s something when you invest a lot into programs and you’re aligned from the top down, from the chancellor to the athletic director to the head football coach to a really good growth collective led by Walker Jones and your elite, really good players, this should be the norm.”
With all eyes on the first-round showdown, the winner of the Dec. 20 matchup will hit the road to New Orleans (La.) to take on the Georgia Bulldogs in the Sugar Bowl at the Caesars SuperDome the following weekend.
Which way does ESPN see the first-round matchup going? Who will take on the Georgia Bulldogs on Dec. 27?
The Game Information: College Football Playoff
Matchup: Ole Miss Rebels vs. Tulane Green Wave
Kickoff Time: 2:30 p.m. CT
Venue: Vaught-Hemingway Stadium
TV Channel: TNT
Radio: Ole Miss Sports Radio Network
Ole Miss Rebels Record: 11-1 (7-1 SEC)
Tulane Green Wave Record: 11-2 (7-1 AAC)
Odds, Spread and Total: College Football PlayoffEmpty heading
Odds via FanDuel Sportsbook
Spread
- Ole Miss: -17.5 (-105)
- Tulane Green Wave: +17.5 (-115)
Moneyline
- Ole Miss: -900
- Tulane Green Wave: +590
Total
- Over 56.5 (-114)
- Under 56.5 (-106)
Ole Miss is currently listed as 17.5-point favorites in the program’s College Football Playoff debut against the Tulane Green Wave.
The over/under for the matchup sits at 56.5 with the Ole Miss offense looking to wreak havoc against the Green Wave.
According to the ESPN Football Power Index, the Ole Miss Rebels have a 84 percent chance to take down the Tulane Green Wave and advance to the quarterfinal round against the Georgia Bulldogs.
On the other side, Jon Sumrall and the Green Wave have a 16 percent chance of pulling off the upset with the program eyeing an opportunity to move on to the next round in the Sugar Bowl at the Caesars SuperDome in New Orleans (La.)
ESPN currently believes that the Ole Miss Rebels and Georgia Bulldogs will square off in the Sugar Bowl at the Caesars SuperDome.
First-Round Games:
No. 12 James Madison at No. 5 Oregon | 7:30 p.m. ET Saturday, Dec. 20
No. 11 Tulane at No. 6 Ole Miss | 3:30 p.m. ET, Saturday, Dec. 20 on TNT, truTV, HBO Max
No. 10 Miami at No. 7 Texas A&M | Noon ET, Saturday, Dec. 20
No. 9 Alabama at No. 8 Oklahoma | 8 p.m. ET, Friday, Dec. 19
Quarterfinals:
No. 1 Indiana vs. winner of No. 8 Oklahoma/No. 9 Alabama | 4 p.m. ET, Thursday, Jan. 1
No. 2 Ohio State vs. winner of No. 7 Texas A&M vs. No. 10 Miami | 7:30 p.m. ET, Wednesday, Dec. 31
No. 3 Georgia vs. winner of No. 6 Ole Miss/No. 11 Tulane | 8 p.m. ET, Thursday, Jan. 1
No. 4 Texas Tech vs. winner of No. 5 Oregon/No. 12 James Madison | Noon ET, Thursday, Jan. 1
More Ole Miss News:
Lane Kiffin Reacts to New Offensive Coordinator Being Hired By Ole Miss Football
Ole Miss Football QB Trinidad Chambliss Wins Major Award Amid Breakout Season
ESPN Predicts Outcome of Ole Miss Football vs. Tulane Green Wave in CFP Showdown
Join the Community:
Follow Zack Nagy on Twitter: @znagy20 and Ole Miss Rebels On SI: @OleMissOnSI for all coverage surrounding the Ole Miss program.
Credit: Jason Getz / Jason.Getz@ajc.com
Georgia center Somto Cyril goes up for a dunk during the first half against Cincinnati in their NCAA basketball game in the Holiday Hoopsgiving at State Farm Arena, Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025, in Atlanta. Georgia won 84-65. (Jason Getz/AJC)
By Olivia Sayer
6 hours ago
When Georgia basketball took the court Saturday afternoon at State Farm Arena, it resembled a team who had not faced another opponent in 11 days.
The Bulldogs came out lackadaisical with more turnovers than successful shots in the game’s first two minutes and faced an 11-point deficit before halftime.
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