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AJC.com > Legislature > Blog > Archives > 2007 > February > 09 > Entry
DEL.ICIO.USSpeaker’s plan would slash PeachCare numbers
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The speaker of the Georgia House said today he had filed legislation that would slash the number of poor kids eligible for the PeachCare health insurance program by up to 30,000 and that he’s working on several other measures to make sure only U.S. citizens could sign up.
House Speaker Glenn Richardson said in an interview that the program shouldn’t be in trouble, that no child’s insurance should be in jeopardy and that the program’s funding problems are all the federal government’s fault.
He spoke a day after Dr. Rhonda Medows, commissioner of the Department of Community Health, which administers the program, announced she was cutting off new enrollments on March 11.
“We are almost at the drop dead time when we would need to send out letters telling 273,000 Georgians we can’t afford to keep you on PeachCare,” Richardson said. “It’s imminent. The money is running out. The federal money is not going to be here for May and June.”
Community Health Department officials have said money will run out next month. Several other bills have been filed to provide a short-term fix.
Richardson said his measure, House Bill 340, would reduce the number of children on PeachCare to 250,000, or perhaps fewer.
Currently, families with incomes up to 235 percent of the federal poverty level are eligible to sign up their children and pay premiums
Richardson said he wants that percentage knocked down to 200 percent. That means a family with an income of $48,000 that is now eligible would no longer be. He said he would like to see the income level in the $40,000 range, which means “there’s a group of people that now qualify that wouldn’t qualify. But we’ve got to do something to stem the rising costs and save money.”
He said “everybody keeps saying Congress is going to reauthorize the money, but they haven’t.”
Richardson said the formula needs to be fixed on the federal level because currently “the more children you insure, the less money you are eligible for” from Washington.
“I know it surprises no one that Congress would have a formula that made no sense, but instead of stepping up and fixing that problem formula they just keep going blindly forward and saying, ‘That’s Georgia’s problem,’ ” Richardson said. “If you make a mistake and have a bad program you either fix it or come clean and say, ‘We don’t want to insure children.’ We are faced with a Catch-22. We can either wait until we get to the end of the line and money to react andintroduce these bills to try to limit benefits, or we can start now.”
Permalink | Comments (13) | Categories: Health Care
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By frank
February 9, 2007 3:27 PM | Link to this
I do not understand how a family can live in a 200,000 dollars house,drive a 40,000 dollars cars and trucks, send there chidren to a private school, cannot afford health insurance for there children. Dosen’t the government check these families? If they would conduct background checks on these families they would have more money.If they can afford the better things in life they can afford insurance.
By Brian
February 9, 2007 3:40 PM | Link to this
SOLUTION - USE HOPE SCHOLARSHIP TO FUND PEACHCARE: Reinstate the original 1993 standards and use the savings to fund Peachcare. In HOPE’s first year, 1993, only those students with a family income of less than $66,000 were eligible. The income cap was raised to $100,000 in 1994 and eliminated entirely in 1995. 1,000,000 students have received $3.8 Billion dollars in college funds. It is estimated that more than 1/3 of these recipients are from wealthy families. You can bet that the same people who are against Federal/State Funded Healthcare programs like Peachcare are the same one’s who are first in line with their hand-out to get Hope money.
By Sam
February 9, 2007 3:46 PM | Link to this
This is Republican math = spend $19MM to promote fishing - double legislators per diem expenses (as though they really had any) then to balance the budget, the Speaker (Mr. “Fidelity” himself) proposes to toss thousands of sickly Georgia children out of Doctors offices and into Georgia’s germ infested streets. Instead of saying, “Let them eat cake”, I’m sure the Speaker’s saying, “Let them Go Fish!”. To add a little brass to his hutspah, the Speaker (Mr. “Fidelity”) does this the day before “Family Day” at the Capitol. I wonder if he’ll let any little sick children into the building?
By CBJones
February 9, 2007 3:52 PM | Link to this
It’s obvious that Frank live under a rock, people using Peachcare of the working poor, not the people he describes, he should do his research before he shows how dumb he really is. This program was created due to so many working poor people, that includes divorce parents, undereducated parents, etc. He’s got Peachcare mixed up with the President’s friends and family, who can afford the best but steal from taxpayers.
By Brian
February 9, 2007 3:57 PM | Link to this
Posters - Please stop the posts about the small percentage of people who may be unjustly receiving benefits and think about the 21.3% of all children living in Georgia who are living below the poverty level. The poverty threshold set by the federal government was $19,157 for a family of four. Average insurance costs for a family of four is $450 per month or $5,400 per year. Could you survive on that?
By Sam
February 9, 2007 4:04 PM | Link to this
Wonder how much that future pigeon perch of an expensive statue for Ol’ Zig Zag Miller is going to cost? Betcha it’s enough to pay for quite a few sickly children to stay on Peachcare!!!!
By Tara
February 9, 2007 4:18 PM | Link to this
I think that if we stopped giving out free passes to peachcare, daycare and medicaid to everyone that has crossed the American borders illegally and flocked to GA then we probably would not be in the predicament that we are currently in. The State should ONLY be able to provide a “boost” or assistance to LEGAL taxpaying residents. If we went to Mexico, or any other country, they would laugh at us if we requested all that they get as hand outs here.
By Thanks
February 9, 2007 4:21 PM | Link to this
Thank you Brian! Yes there are people that take advantage of the system, but that is a very small percentage. To the people that are against PeachCare, I want to see what you would have to say about it if you got fired from your wonderful jobs because of outsourcing. Step into the real world! If things in this country keep going the way they are, there are going to be many more people under the poverty line.
By frank
February 9, 2007 4:42 PM | Link to this
Mr. Jones, I am a mailman. I see what goes on.
By Brian
February 9, 2007 5:02 PM | Link to this
Tara- These people aren’t coming here to exploit our system. They are here fleeing poverty. You need to re-evaluate your views and act like a human being. Somewhere along the way your moral compass led you astray. If you are a Christian, ask yourself if you think Jesus would deny these people aid? But, maybe you are like most hypocrites and are just a “one hour a week” Christian.
By Brad
February 12, 2007 10:53 AM | Link to this
PeachCare is being abused. I have employees who are offered high quality healthcare through work for a nominal fees of less that 10 dollars a week. Yet, they decline coverage, because they are eligible for PeachCare. PeachCare is for those who have no other means for health coverage. Eliminate the waste and I will support it.
By Just Wondering
February 12, 2007 10:56 AM | Link to this
I work in healthcare and know that our children should be a top priority. But I have to say that this is hard to make sense of when my neighbors own 200 acres of land, have 10 poultry houses, live in a brand new 3000+ square foot house with swimming pool, drive new van and truck, AND THEIR THREE CHILDREN ARE ON PEACHCARE!! The system must be fixed to serve those who are in need and not to fulfill the wants of the ones that can provide for themselves. DON’T THROW THE BABY OUT WITH THE BATHWATER - FIX THE PROBLEM!!!
By christy
February 20, 2007 12:55 PM | Link to this
The majorotiy of people who have children that receive Peachcare are not stupid or undereducated. We are hardworking mostly middle class parents who happen to have gone to college and got an education, we happen to have jobs that do not offer afforadable insurance, if any at all. We worry every time a child falls will this be a thousand dollar trip to the ER or do we get the immunizations or pay the gas bill. Every one should have medical coverage . Regardless. We are the working people that our tax dollars goes to help pay for Medicaid which is a totally flawed program but you don’t see that falling by the way. Their roster just grows. Children on Peach care should not lose coverage because of neglect to the obvious. What about the premiums the majority of parents pay for Peachace and on time at that? If the rolls are cut what happens to the small percent that lose coverage due to their parents income being to high by a few hundred dollars, it isn’t going to make them be able to afford a 1500.00 premium each month. There will be alot more sick and unatteded children, kids will miss more school and the entire State will be affected.