A small group of legislators met with the Jewish Community Relations Council to discuss the potential of Medicaid expansion and other timely political topics on Feb. 7. It was the second Peach Politics event held in person since the COVID-19 pandemic struck in 2020.
Half a million of Georgia residents are without health insurance, a topic that is picking up speed as Republicans consider revising the state laws on Medicaid.
Maya T. Prabhu, an Atlanta Journal-Constitution government reporter, moderated a panel of elected officials: Sens. Brian Strickland, Jason Esteves (D-Atlanta), and Reps. James Beverly (D-Macon) and Sharon Cooper (R-Marietta). Joining them was author, reporter and Politically Georgia radio host Greg Bluestein.
Prabhu explained that the Affordable Care Act was put into effect in 2010, but in 2012 the Supreme Court struck down a provision that mandated states to expand Medicaid coverage.
Gov. Brian Kemp later passed Georgia Pathways to Coverage, which stalled due to the change of presidential administrations, complications with healthcare coverage during the pandemic, and a lawsuit between Georgia and the federal government.
Pathways offers Medicaid coverage to eligible Georgians ages 19-64 who have a household income of up to 100% of the Federal Poverty Level, and are ineligible for traditional Medicaid. Pathways is under-enrolled, Democrats say.
For a long time, Bluestein explained, Republican leaders said full Medicaid expansion is a bad idea, but that is starting to change.
“I don’t know if it’s going to lead to legislation this year,” Bluestein said. “For the first time in my view, since I’ve been here for 20 years, that you’re hearing serious talk about Medicaid expansion.”
Strickland, a Republican, said he’s been meeting with colleagues to discuss the outcome of full expansion of Medicaid in Georgia.
Esteves said that the most logical and most economical option is to expand Medicaid. “The financial incentives that the federal government has put in place makes it a no-brainer,” he said.
In response to Prabhu’s question, “Why are Republicans afraid to use the term ‘expansion?’” Strickland said Medicaid has been a political issue for some time, “but I don’t think it’s fair to say we have been scared to talk about it. We’ve embraced the issue.”
“Our Medicaid system is awful, and bureaucracy is unbelievable,” said Cooper, who has a master’s degree in nursing and is married to a family practitioner. “Putting more people on a demeaning system, one that wasn’t working well … was not something that was very appetizing for me to go ahead and expand.”
Beverly, an optometrist who holds a master’s in public administration from the Harvard Kennedy School, said he’s uniquely familiar with Medicaid patients in his practice.
“We have to make sure that the priorities are aligned around reimbursement of doctors so that doctors are incentivized to see kids,” Beverly said.
Coming this session, Strickland is bringing a bill for accommodations and protections in the workplace for people who are pregnant or new mothers.
“There are a lot of stressors that come along with living in poverty that we can be addressing: through workforce development, through affordable housing, through education, ensuring that systems are strong. On the flip side, training for doctors, having more doctors that are culturally competent and diversity [is needed],” said Esteves.
The conversation turned to increased medical and dental schools in the state, discrimination laws, and criminal justice reform including the legislation on bail bonds.
Leslie Anderson, JCRC Atlanta executive director, said the annual event is crucial because elected officials rely on voters, especially constituents, to provide them with perspective and feedback.
“For Jews in particular, we have to remember that we make up 2% of the population. Many legislators, especially from rural Georgia, may not have met or known Jewish people, let alone understand how our community could be impacted by a particular issue. Nor are they always aware of how much Jews are engaged in our society,” said Anderson. “Jews have always flourished in liberal democracies; it’s in our self-interest to be an active part of that democracy through interaction with our electeds.”
