Georgians deserve health care access. Medicaid expansion is one solution.
Every day, hardworking Georgians depend on stable, affordable health care to keep their families healthy and our state’s economy strong.
Nearly one in five – about 2.3 million people – rely on Medicaid for that care. This program supports children, families, seniors and people with disabilities across Georgia.
In 2024 alone, Georgia directed $16.6 billion toward Medicaid reimbursements, funds that rural hospitals, clinics and the health care workforce depend on to deliver care to families across the state.
Medicaid is not a side issue – it’s the backbone of health care in our state. With that immense responsibility comes the need for stability and trust.
Time to move forward from legal challenges
Georgia recently completed its multiyear Medicaid procurement process, a mandatory review of which companies will manage care for millions of residents and billions in health care spending.
The process was designed to be competitive, and guided by accountability, merit, and service quality. Unfortunately, ongoing disputes and legal challenges from unsuccessful bidders have created uncertainty for patients, providers, and the state, threatening to delay implementation and interrupt continuity of care. Disruptions Georgians cannot afford.
Procurement challenges are not unusual. Appeals and protests are a normal part of large-scale state contracting. But Georgia’s clear, performance-based process examined and selected providers on merit, experience and services to members, not politics.
Recently, the Georgia Department of Administrative Services denied the protest of the award, though the legal process could drag on. It’s time to move forward.
The providers selected as part of the procurement process serve as a model for what Medicaid service should look like – fast, fair, locally oriented, and, perhaps most importantly, focused on patients.
These plans have received national distinctions from the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) and have committed to hiring 100% of their staff in Georgia in alignment with Gov. Brian Kemp’s hiring initiatives. Additionally, they rely on well-established best practices for managing the health of the Medicaid population.
Innovate to close Georgia’s health care coverage gap
Under the leadership of Gov. Kemp’s administration, the state handled this process with professionalism, discipline and transparency. The administration emphasized fairness, efficiency and strong fiscal stewardship, values that any responsible government should uphold when managing a $16 billion health care operation.
The outcome reflects that leadership: a set of high-performing managed-care organizations selected for their commitment to quality, accountability and service to Georgia families. The state’s focus must now remain squarely on patients and ensuring that Medicaid coverage can be implemented without delays or interruptions to help ensure the continuity of care.
Any additional delays to Georgians getting Medicaid coverage are especially harmful, considering the unique challenges that Georgia faces when it comes to inadequate health care access. Even with Medicaid serving as a cornerstone of care, hundreds of thousands of working Georgians remain uninsured – often earning too much to qualify for traditional Medicaid but too little to afford private coverage.
Strengthening this bridge remains one of Georgia’s most urgent health care and economic challenges, and Georgia First believes that Medicaid expansion is one policy lever it’s time for Georgia’s leaders to embrace, while simultaneously ensuring that the state’s newly awarded managed-care contracts are implemented effectively and deliver results for patients.
Looking ahead, we implore this administration to apply the same innovative thinking and fiscal discipline that guided the procurement process to efforts that close Georgia’s health care coverage gap and safeguard our highly successful state-based marketplace, Georgia Access. We encourage our elected leaders, providers, and communities to work together toward one shared goal: ensuring every Georgian has access to quality, affordable health care.
Healthy Georgians are productive Georgians—and when we invest in their well-being, we invest in the future of our state.
Natalie Crawford is the founder and executive director of Georgia First, a civic organization supporting and growing the middle class, expanding access to affordable health care, and ensuring election access and security.
