Advocates warn that proposed Medicaid cuts threaten Georgia’s safety net programs 

Alton Fry a Franklin County man who is undergoing healing for prostate cancer makes too much money for Medicaid but too little to afford coverage through the marketplace Jill Nolin Georgia RecorderAdvocates are bracing for feasible cuts to Georgia s safety net programs under the GOP s big beautiful bill moving through Congress though it remains to be seen what changes to programs like Medicaid will end up in the final version As is the federal measure would cut more than billion over the next decade from Medicaid the ruling body wellness insurance campaign for low-income Americans and people with disabilities The savings would go toward extending President Donald Trump s tax cuts The U S House of Representatives could vote on the bill this week though as of late Tuesday Republicans had not yet rallied behind the current version Even though the bill appears to be designed to chip away at Medicaid s expansion under the Affordable Care Act advocates and others say states like Georgia that did not fully expand Medicaid could still feel the effects of the cuts In Georgia the undertaking covers about million people mostly providing soundness care coverage and services for children older Georgians and people with disabilities In fresh years the plan was slightly expanded to include adults who complete hours of work job training teaching or neighborhood function every month D Arcy Robb executive director of the Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities noted Tuesday that she is not worried about funding for Medicaid-funded services that are considered mandatory like for care in a nursing home But Robb noted she is concerned about Medicaid services that are considered optional such as funding for home and group based services that are designed to keep people with disabilities out of nursing homes There are already about people in Georgia waiting to receive those services with state lawmakers funding new waivers this year We can t afford to lose any money We re already scraping the bone and we re already seeing families that are going to extreme means to backing their loved ones Robb declared These waiver programs took a hit during the Great Recession with Georgia joining all other states in scaling back services to help balance their budgets Robb is fearing a repeat if a big cut to Medicaid makes it into the final bill I m not trying to imply that states are going to cut services to people with developmental disabilities because they want to I don t think anybody wants that Robb mentioned But the reality is the states have to balance their budgets and history has shown us that when Medicaid takes a big cut on the national level states have to cut somewhere One of the places they can cut is waivers she reported As proposed the bill also includes provisions that would hurt children who are covered by Medicaid says Callan Wells senior vitality protocol manager with GEEARS Georgia Early Learning Alliance for Ready Students About of Georgia children are enrolled in Medicaid One proposed change in the bill that has flown under the radar would scale back retroactive coverage from three months to one Wells disclosed This could lead to substantial healthcare debt especially for families of children with disabilities she disclosed These children often receive costly care for months before their families learn about and apply for Medicaid Without full retroactive coverage families may be left responsible for those early expenses For several this coverage is a crucial financial safeguard I want to work The proposed cuts come at a time when several Georgia GOP leaders had begun to soften their staunch resistance to full Medicaid expansion though a measure floated this year that had help from a limited rural Republicans fast fizzled Natalie Crawford executive director of Georgia First a bipartisan advocacy group urged congressional leaders to rethink sweeping changes that would reduce federal assets in Medicaid Georgia First held a press conference this week with the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Organization to push back against the bill s reductions to Medicaid spending These proposals could limit access to care and roll back the progress we ve made in reducing cancer disparities disclosed Fabienne Antoine-Nasser the society s Georgia governing body relations director Crawford explained the bill would also likely worsen the state s already high uninsured rate Georgia is tied with Oklahoma for the second highest uninsured rate in the country Fueling the momentum behind such reforms is a trap of divisive rhetoric misinformation and fear mongering that clouds the understanding of what this venture is really delivering for states and who is really benefiting from the safety net Crawford reported Despite what influential voices may try to convince you is true Medicaid is not covering mostly able-bodied men who don t want to work she stated Instead Crawford declared the scheme should be there to help people like Alton Fry a Franklin County stone mason who was diagnosed with prostate cancer last year Fry is caught in what is known as the coverage gap meaning he makes too much for Medicaid and but too little to afford private wellbeing insurance Fry explained he racked up about in healthcare debt in just about half a year before he started receiving donations through a GoFundMe page He reported he is undergoing radiation restoration which he says is not the most of effective remedy for him but it is more affordable than surgery I want to work I don t want to live off the cabinet Fry revealed All I m asking for is temporary help to get me over this hump in life and it wasn t there and it s not there The GOP measure would impose a work requirement on Medicaid recipients starting in The federal match for states that expand Medicaid though would remain intact A few far-right Republicans including Georgia Congressman Andrew Clyde of Athens are pushing for deeper cuts to Medicaid Georgia Congressman Buddy Carter a Pooler Republican in recent times defended the proposed changes to Medicaid while on the Atlanta Journal-Constitution s Politically Georgia podcast Carter argued the proposals would help stabilize the undertaking for the majority of vulnerable You shouldn t have an able-bodied person who could be doing a few type of work it even includes volunteer work that is on that plan revealed Carter who is a U S Senate candidate That s not who it was intended for and that s not who we should be using it for So there are all kinds of things that we can do to find savings without kicking anyone off The post Advocates warn that proposed Medicaid cuts threaten Georgia s safety net programs appeared first on Rough Draft Atlanta