“They haven’t done any checks since March of 2020 so everyone has been able to keep their coverage for that entire period without having to renew,” said Laura Colbert, Executive Director of Georgians for a Healthy Future.

“Now that we know redetermination will begin April 1, 2023, it’s more important than ever for Medicaid and PeachCare for Kids members to make sure their contact information is up to date so we can reach them with critical, timely information, said DHS Commissioner Candice Broce. We want to make sure that eligible Medicaid members do not risk losing their family’s coverage.”

“My last person I [helped] only paid $8 a month health-care coverage for 2023,” Deanna Williams, an insurance navigator who works at Georgians for a Healthy Future, said during a press conference last week. “A lot of people who I’ve helped, especially in my rural area … were shocked to know that they could get a plan.”

And Georgians for a Healthy Future director Laura Colbert said Medicaid expansion is a long shot this session too.

“The governor does not have any meaningful motivation to move forward with Medicaid expansion because he won so decisively in November,” she said, “and because he got the green light on his Pathways waiver.”

Even people who maintain eligibility next year could temporarily lose coverage during redeterminations, said Laura Colbert, director of Georgians for a Healthy Future.

“Often Medicaid members, because they are in low income families, they tend to be harder to reach,” Colbert said. “Because they’re busy, because they live in rural areas, because they move more often.”

Colbert says low-income adults will likely see the largest coverage losses, because they don’t often qualify for Medicaid unless they are pregnant, disabled or have certain cancers.

“Unless our state leaders choose to expand Medicaid,” Colbert said.

Jan 10: Georgians for a Healthy Future will host an event at The Freight Depot in downtown, its annual Health Care Unscrambled event, where a bi-partisan panel of state lawmakers and a keynote speaker will explore health care policy and public health issues.

Treylin Cooley, who is a health insurance navigator with Georgians for a Healthy Future, said people may be surprised to find they qualify for financial assistance – like he once did.

“Because I was able to benefit from the insurance, I am a big proponent of people applying for the insurance and realizing that you qualify when you probably thought that you didn’t,” Cooley said. “The premium tax credits do help out tremendously, and it’s a lifesaver.”

Opponents of the program argue that the work requirement will create barriers for people who are low-income. The executive director of Georgians for a Healthy Future, Laura Colbert, said, “Full-time caregivers, people with mental health conditions or substance use disorders, and people unable to work but who have not yet qualified for disability coverage would find it hard to qualify,” according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

“The best-case scenario is that some uninsured Georgians would get coverage for some amount of time,’’ said Laura Colbert, executive director of the consumer advocacy group Georgians for a Healthy Future. “It’s going to be a big headache for the state and for people who enroll or try to enroll.”

Georgia’s per-enrollee cost for the work requirement program is expected to be at least three times higher than it would be under a regular Medicaid expansion, said Colbert.

The administrative barriers to the Kemp work plan would be significant, consumer advocates say. Full-time caregivers, people with mental health conditions or substance use disorders, and people unable to work but who have not yet qualified for disability coverage would find it hard to qualify, Colbert said.

The decision by CMS not to appeal “was a little surprising,’’ Colbert said, but she added that another unfavorable court ruling could pose a risk to other states’ Medicaid programs, by clearing the way for other work requirements.

“The best-case scenario is that some uninsured Georgians would get coverage for some amount of time,” Laura Colbert, executive director of the consumer advocacy group Georgians for a Healthy Future, said. “It’s going to be a big headache for the state and for people who enroll or try to enroll.”

“At best, some uninsured Georgians would get insurance coverage for some time,” said Laura Colbert, executive director of consumer advocacy group Georgians for a Healthy Future. “There will be a major headache for the state and for people who are enrolling or trying to enroll.”