Full Medicaid expansion in Georgia- more than 10 years overdue

by Jack Bernard, Georgia Recorder
February 25, 2025

“It is unconscionable for Governor Deal to stand in the way of the availability of health care… We are paying the overwhelming cost of this program already through our federal taxes… (Georgia resident’s) taxes will fund health care for people in…other states that have opted in. Does our governor listen to the people who cannot afford health care and to others who are concerned about those folks? Give him a chance — but make sure he hears from you”. – Atlanta Journal-Constitution reader Truman Moore in 2013 letter to the editor.

Moore wrote his thoughtful letter in response to my 2013 AJC letter regarding the expansion of Medicaid (“Ideology in the Way of Creating Jobs.”  At the time, I had just completed two terms as a fiscally conservative Republican County Commissioner in rural Jasper County, as well as being the former chair of their Republican Party. Due to the reactionary nature of the GOP concerning social issues, as well as the abandonment of fiscal sanity by Trump’s GOP, I have since become an active Democrat. 

But the Medicaid issue remains the same- a political football used by Georgia’s GOP politicians to score points… while harming Georgia’s residents. However, this time the culprit is Gov, Brian Kemp. A few years ago, he rolled out a disastrous Medicaid “waiver” program  called Pathways that has proven to be a bureaucratic nightmare and administratively very expensive.  But Pathways covers only 4,700 Georgians- rather than the hundreds of thousands Kemp said would get coverage. Still, he wants to run for Senator. Therefore, Kemp will not acknowledge that with Pathways he made a very big mistake that has hurt his constituents. 

Further, when former Gov. Nathan Deal (a Republican, but former Democrat) was in office, he had the power to unilaterally expand Medicaid soon after the 2010 Affordable Care Act passed court scrutiny. He chose not to do so. Instead, Deal’s politically driven desire was to push the issue onto someone else. So, now the General Assembly’s approval is needed. Still, a full expansion would have gone through last year if not for Kemp’s opposition… driven by his ego and political ambitions. 

Georgia is now one of only 10 states not to implement full Medicaid expansion. Therefore, our state has 1.2 million uninsured. An astounding 14 % of residents have no insurance. That figure is much higher than the still unacceptable national rate of 10%. The Georgia figure is over 20% for those in many solid red rural communities like Whitefield, Atkinson, Webster, Candler and Gordon Counties. 

Back then, I also wrote the following to my colleagues on the Steering Committee of the Georgia Chapter of Physicians for a National Health Program- “Medicaid is clearly a poor substitute for (expanding) Medicare coverage, but it is all we have in the short run. And, thanks to reactionaries on the Supreme Court and weak politicians afraid of the Tea Party radicals, expansion in the neediest states is difficult.” And “expanding Medicaid would create…private-sector jobs in our state…generating hundreds of millions in state and local taxes.”  If we insert MAGA for Tea Party, my statements made over a decade ago are still 100% accurate. 

In conclusion, here is the situation over 10 years later. Georgia still is one of the worst states for insurance coverage – only Texas and Florida have more uninsured. The explanation is simple technically, and solely political in nature. There is an old Winston Churchill saying:  “Those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”

Just how many times will our governor and General Assembly go down this same disastrous road, unwilling to admit the failure of the Pathways approach because of politics?  

The facts are clear to anyone of any party who researches the issue. Bury your political ideology and do what is right for the residents of Georgia — full Medicaid expansion.

Georgia Recorder is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Georgia Recorder maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor John McCosh for questions: info@georgiarecorder.com.

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Georgia-style DOGE bill intended to make agencies assess cost of rules clears state Senate 

by Jill Nolin, Georgia Recorder
February 24, 2025

A GOP proposal designed to ease regulatory burdens on small business is being billed as Georgia’s DOGE, a reference to the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency.

“The Senate is leading the way to combat burdensome and costly regulations on behalf of business owners and employees across the state,” Lt. Governor Burt Jones said in a statement Monday that was sent out with the subject line “Georgia does DOGE.”  

The bill, officially called the “Red Tape Rollback Act,” is one of Jones’ priorities this session. Jones, who is seen as a likely candidate for governor in 2026, said the bill is “mirroring the great work President Trump is doing in Washington to create efficiency, reduce unnecessary spending and eliminate bureaucratic red tape across state agencies.”

The measure, which is a holdover from last year, cleared the Senate with a 33-21 vote that fell along party lines. The bill now moves to the House.

Proponents of the measure say it would hold government accountable and help the state be more responsive to Georgians. Critics say the bill creeps into the executive branch’s turf and imports the destructive spirit of DOGE – a point Sen. Josh McLaurin, a Sandy Springs Democrat, made by holding up a prop featuring the 2013-era Doge meme.

“It reflects the philosophy that government is a joke. That is what Elon Musk thinks,” McLaurin said. “He thinks his money and his wealth entitle him to run the world, and that the government that’s in place, the millions of federal workers, the laws that govern their service and put them in a position to succeed, that those laws are a joke as well.”

The bill is advancing as Georgia is beginning to feel the effects of the Trump administration’s fast-moving attempts to shrink the size of the federal government, with 1,300 employees at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention expected to lose their jobs.

McLaurin acknowledged the proposed Georgia-style DOGE uses a different strategy than the sweeping changes being undertaken by the Trump administration, like the mass firings. But he argued that both are imbued with the same distrust of government and both take “an ax to government” instead of trying to make targeted improvements.

“One person’s red tape is another person’s due process,” he said.

The Jones-backed proposal calls for agencies to size up the economic impact of their administrative rules and requires them to review their rules every four years – something the bill’s sponsor, Cumming Republican Sen. Greg Dolezal, likened to a “four-year spring cleaning.”

And it would give state lawmakers a chance to object to the rules created by state agencies. Any rule that has an estimated $1 million economic impact would have to be ratified by the General Assembly.

Some agencies, such as the Georgia Department of Corrections, are currently not covered by the proposal, but the bill could be broadened to include more state agencies, which are generally considered the purview of the executive branch. 

“It certainly does, I would say, enhance what we do here as legislators,” Dolezal said to reporters after the vote. “I think over the years, the General Assembly has largely devolved in terms of influence down to just a bill-passing authority. 

“I think our constituents expect us to do a lot more than just come down here and pass a bunch of new laws,” he added. 

But other state lawmakers argue that isn’t a good thing.

“I’m not sure about y’all but I didn’t come here to micromanage agencies. I didn’t come here to debate rules. I came here to pass laws,” said Sen. Jason Esteves, an Atlanta Democrat who argued that lawmakers should leave the rule-making to state agencies.

The governor’s spokesperson said Republican Gov. Brian Kemp, who sits atop of the executive branch, remains generally supportive of efforts to streamline the government but said the office does not comment on pending or proposed legislation.

Sen. Kim Jackson, a Stone Mountain Democrat, said she isn’t hearing complaints from constituents about overly cumbersome rules.

“Instead, they talk about phones that go unanswered, emails that are not responded, agencies not being able to provide the very things that they are called to because they are underfunded and understaffed,” Jackson said.

“Our agencies are not crippled by rules. They are crippled by our lack of funding. They are crippled by our lack of staffing,” she said.

The governor sets the spending level for each year’s budget, and state lawmakers move money around in the budget to fund their priorities. State agency heads have been making their annual pilgrimage to committee meeting rooms to discuss their budget needs. 

Georgia Recorder is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Georgia Recorder maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor John McCosh for questions: info@georgiarecorder.com.

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SUMMARY: The murder of Laken Riley, a 22-year-old nursing student killed by an illegal immigrant in Georgia, has intensified calls for tougher immigration laws both locally and nationally. House Speaker John Burns reflects on the impact of her tragic death on Georgia’s legislative efforts. Following Laken’s murder, the General Assembly passed House Bill 1105, which mandates local jails to check inmates’ immigration status and cooperate with federal officials. Governor Kemp highlighted Laken’s legacy in his statement, emphasizing that her tragic loss has spurred crucial legislation aimed at preventing similar incidents in the future, ensuring her memory endures through these reforms.

Laken Riley’s death sparked calls for immigration reform here in Georgia and nationwide. Georgia lawmakers have been on the front lines in the fight to pass tougher immigration laws.

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