Datapoint: Georgia Medicaid Work Program Sees Slow Start
Georgia’s Pathways to Coverage — the only extant Medicaid work requirement program in the U.S. — is off to a slow start, according to a July 14 report in the Associated Press. The program, which is meant to function as a compromise to full Medicaid expansion, enrolls just 4,300 members a year after its launch. That’s less than 1% of Georgia’s overall Medicaid population. The state previously estimated it would enroll 25,000 beneficiaries in the first year. Pathways grants Medicaid coverage to non-disabled adults with annual incomes at or below the federal poverty line that participate in 80 or more hours of work or another qualifying activity, such as school or volunteering, per month. A full Medicaid expansion, meanwhile, would bring coverage to an estimated 480,000 additional beneficiaries. Georgia currently serves 2,563,576 Medicaid lives. The Pathways to Coverage program will expire in September 2025 unless CMS approves its extension.
Source: AIS’s Directory of Health Plans
