{"id":22290,"date":"2024-03-13T14:24:50","date_gmt":"2024-03-13T18:24:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/?post_type=press-releases&p=22290"},"modified":"2024-03-13T14:24:51","modified_gmt":"2024-03-13T18:24:51","slug":"as-state-of-georgia-throws-150000-georgia-youth-off-health-insurance-sen-ossoff-rep-mcbath-demand-answers","status":"publish","type":"press-releases","link":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/press-releases\/as-state-of-georgia-throws-150000-georgia-youth-off-health-insurance-sen-ossoff-rep-mcbath-demand-answers\/","title":{"rendered":"As State of Georgia Throws 150,000 Georgia Youth Off Health Insurance, Sen. Ossoff & Rep. McBath Demand Answers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Approximately 149,080 Georgia children have been thrown off their health coverage from March 2023 to September 2023 during Medicaid redetermination process<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution <\/em>found<\/em><\/a> that mismanagement, understaffing, & poor administrative execution are driving the State\u2019s failure to re-enroll Georgians<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Washington, D.C. \u2014 <\/strong>With nearly 150,000 Georgia children thrown off their health insurance by the State of Georgia, U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff and Congresswoman Lucy McBath (GA-07) today demanded answers<\/a> from the State about this catastrophic failure to care for Georgia kids.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the Federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), approximately 149,080<\/a> Georgian children were disenrolled from health coverage from March 2023 to September 2023 through a State process that violated federal requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recent reporting<\/a> from The Atlanta Journal-Constitution <\/em>(AJC)found that hundreds of thousands of Georgians disenrolled from Medicaid by the State, including these children, have been unable to reenroll due to the State\u2019s mismanagement. The AJC reported that mismanagement, understaffing, and poor administrative execution are driving the failure to re-enroll Georgians in health coverage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cVoicemails are always full. When they try to go to an office in person<\/a> they often find the caseworkers are actually working remotely. They send paperwork and the state can\u2019t find it. And some problems lie with the Gateway computer system, which gives contradictory or inaccurate information, depending on which type of device and screen a person is using,\u201d the AJC reported.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe State\u2019s failure to auto-renew children at the individual level, as required by the federal government, and to competently execute the Medicaid redetermination process leaves Georgians who have lost coverage at risk. The State of Georgia has a responsibility to manage programs correctly to serve the people of Georgia and is currently failing to do so. Your administration must take immediate corrective action,\u201d Sen. Ossoff and Rep. McBath wrote. <\/strong>\u201cThe safety and well-being of children must be one of our highest concerns. It is unacceptable that children and other vulnerable Georgians have lost access to comprehensive health care through no fault of their own.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In August 2023<\/a>, Georgia reported that the State had failed to follow Federal requirements by stripping \u201chousehold members with different eligibility statuses\u201d of Medicaid coverage, meaning instead of checking each child\u2019s individual eligibility, as required by the Federal government, the State of Georgia took away health coverage from entire households.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, the State\u2019s Department of Human Services is failing to efficiently process re-enrollment cases, leaving a huge number of Georgians without health coverage for an extended period and parents without options to get their children reenrolled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sen. Ossoff and Rep. McBath requested answers to the following questions:<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  1. What steps is the State taking to ensure that the Department of Human Services can quickly and efficiently work through Medicaid redeterminations?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
      \n
    1. How does the State plan to address problems with the Gateway computer system?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
        \n
      1. How is the State addressing vital health care needs for children while Department of Human Services is redetermining their eligibility for Medicaid?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
          \n
        1. The State has chosen to not to report the number of children disenrolled from Medicaid who still lack coverage. How many children are still left to redetermine?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
            \n
          1. Given the AJC\u2019s reporting about mismanagement, understaffing, and poor administrative execution, what is the State doing to reach Georgia families whose children lost their insurance and ensure they understand their eligibility status and next steps to get their children reenrolled?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

            Click here<\/a> to read Sen. Ossoff and Rep. McBath\u2019s letter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            # # #<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

            Approximately 149,080 Georgia children have been thrown off their health coverage from March 2023 to September 2023 during Medicaid redetermination process The Atlanta Journal-Constitution found that mismanagement, understaffing, & poor administrative execution are driving the State\u2019s failure to re-enroll Georgians Washington, D.C. \u2014 With nearly 150,000 Georgia children thrown off their health insurance by the State of Georgia, […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":70,"featured_media":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22290","press-releases","type-press-releases","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press_releases\/22290","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press_releases"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/press-releases"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/70"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press_releases\/22290\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22292,"href":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press_releases\/22290\/revisions\/22292"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22290"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22290"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22290"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}