There's a glimmer of hope for broader health coverage in Georgia, but also a good chance of a fizzle
Long-held Republican opposition to broader health care coverage may be softening in Georgia and Mississippi
ATLANTA — Medicaid expansion was long politically impossible in Georgia.
Now it's just unlikely.
Georgia House Speaker Jon Burns says he wants lawmakers to consider more health coverage in the state as their session begins Monday. But he’s careful not to label it Medicaid expansion, and certainly not “Obamacare.”
“The speaker is committed to lowering costs and increasing access to healthcare across the state, and will be working closely with members over the coming weeks to develop sound policy to do just that,” Stephen Lawson, a spokesperson for the Newington Republican, said Thursday.
After North Carolina began offering Medicaid to uninsured adults on Dec. 1, there are 10 remaining states that don't cover people with incomes up to 138% of the federal poverty line. That's what was envisioned in President Barack Obama’s 2010 health care overhaul.
Like in Georgia, there's a thaw in Mississippi, where GOP legislative leaders say they're open to extending coverage, even if newly reelected Republican Gov. Tate Reeves remains vocally opposed.
“We’re fixing to look at every facet of Medicaid expansion, and if it makes sense, we’re going to do it,” Rep. Jason White, newly elected as Mississippi's House speaker, said last week.
But Robin Rudowitz, a KFF vice president who directs the nonprofit group's program on Medicaid and the uninsured, said there's little movement in other states. In Kansas for example, Republican lawmakers are spurning Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly's pro-expansion campaign of events with business leaders, hospital administrators and health advocates.
Kelly argued in a recent interview that she’s
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