Now that Republicans’ big tax-and-spending bill has become law, there will be new bureaucratic hurdles for millions of Americans who rely on Medicaid for health coverage. The new law contains a provision that in most states, for the first time, low-income adults will have to start meeting work requirements to keep their coverage.

Some states have already tried this, but Georgia is the only state that currently has an active system using work requirements to establish Medicaid eligibility — and recipients must report to the system once a month…

As the dust settles in the wake of President Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful bill,” — the massive spending cut and tax break package signed into law early this month — it’s becoming clearer that Georgia’s health care landscape may look dramatically different in 2026.

Health insurers, providers and advocates alike are bracing for the impact that the federal budget reconciliation bill will have on health care access throughout the state over the next decade. The bill’s sweeping Medicaid cuts are expected to reduce federal health care funding in Georgia by $2.29 billion, according to data from the nonprofit health policy research organization KFF.

Health care advocates worry that the higher premiums will result in fewer Georgia residents obtaining coverage, with some families being priced out of the health insurance market entirely. Georgia already has one of the highest uninsured rates in the country.

“Because Georgia has not expanded Medicaid, we have more low-income individuals enrolled in the marketplace or Georgia Access than most states,” said Whitney Griggs, the director of health policy at Georgians for a Healthy Future, a patient advocacy group. “Those folks are going to feel the pain of these premium increases the most.”

Though certain parts of the budget reconciliation bill likely won’t impact taxpayers until 2027 or beyond, higher insurance premiums may debut as soon as January 2026.

ATLANTA – When Congress passed President Donald Trump’s controversial budget bill July 3, Republicans and Democrats went to their corners to portray it either as the largest tax cut in U.S. history or a devastating gutting of the nation’s safety net.

But beyond the politics, Georgia health-care and clean-energy advocates warned that cuts to Medicaid, the Affordable Care Act (ACA), and food stamps, as well as the phasing out of clean-energy tax credits will hurt low- and middle-income Georgians in exchange for easing the tax burden on the wealthy who don’t need such government largesse.

State cutbacks to the ACA, Medicaid, and SNAP (the food stamps program) could be achieved by introducing more administrative requirements, they said, something the federal government is already imposing.

Identity “proofing” challenges with ACA “mean that many folks just won’t enroll because of administrative burdens,” said Whitney Griggs, director of health policy for Georgians for a Healthy Future.

ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) – Georgia’s U.S. senators are joining a bipartisan push against President Donald Trump’s sweeping budget proposal, projected to be $153 billion.

More than 2 million Georgians rely on Medicaid, and according to estimates from the Kaiser Family Foundation, as many as 200,000 people in the state could lose their Medicaid coverage or private insurance through Georgia Access almost immediately if the plan passes.

Whitney Griggs, of Georgians for a Healthy Future, echoed those concerns.

“Georgians will feel these impacts very quickly,” Griggs said. “And a lot more people than expected are going to lose coverage.”

LISTEN: A new report from the Commonwealth Fund ranks Georgia’s health care system 45th overall in the nation. GPB’s Ellen Eldridge reports on the findings.

A new report from the Commonwealth Fund ranks Georgia’s health care system 45th overall in the nation.

The ranking looked at health care access, affordability and disease prevention, said Sara Collins, the senior scholar and vice president for health care coverage and access and tracking health system performance at The Commonwealth Fund.

The administrative burden is preventing people from enrolling and is leaving more people without access to health care, Whitney Griggs with Georgians for a Healthy Future said.

“Lots of folks who are eligible lose their coverage because they run into some sort of an administrative roadblock trying to submit their qualifying activity or prove their address or even just fill out the basic application,” Griggs said.

ATLANTA, GA — There are new concerns about how Georgia healthcare could be impacted by President Trump’s “Big, Beautiful” budget bill.

A congressional budget office analysis estimates 624,000 Georgians could lose their healthcare coverage if the bill is passed by congress.

“It’s about increasing costs for private health insurance and making it harder to get through the enrollment process and renewal process for Medicaid.”

Laura Colbert with Georgians for a Healthy Future says the premium tax credit could also go away, increasing premiums for everyone.

The Senate must still vote on the bill.

ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia’s experiment with a work requirement for Medicaid offers a test of a similar mandate Republicans in Congress want to implement nationally, and advocates say the results so far should serve as a warning.

Just days shy of its two-year anniversary, the Georgia Medicaid program is providing health coverage to about 7,500 low-income residents, up from 4,300 in the first year, but far fewer than the estimated 240,000 people who could qualify. The state had predicted at least 25,000 enrollees in the first year and nearly 50,000 in the second year.

“The data on the Pathways program speaks for itself,” said Laura Colbert, executive director of Georgians for a Healthy Future, an advocacy group that has called for a broader expansion of Medicaid without work requirements. “There are just so many hurdles at every step of the way that it’s just a really difficult program for people to enroll in and then to stay enrolled in too.”

Budget bill includes changes to Medicaid similar to Georgia’s ‘Pathways’ program

Georgia could soon become the poster child for administering Medicaid with work requirements — for better or worse.

As Congressional Republicans seek to pass a budget bill enacting President Donald Trump’s agenda, they’re looking to require able-bodied Medicaid recipients to work in order to receive their health care coverage. Georgia is presently the only state in the nation with work requirements for its Medicaid population…

Laura Colbert, the executive director of Georgians for a Healthy Future, said frequent checks are difficult and expensive. There is more churn within the system because people are often falling in and out of care.