Gov. Brian Kemp announces changes to Georgia Pathways during the first week of the 2025 legislative session. Ross Williams/Georgia Recorder
Gov. Brian Kemp says parents of young children would no longer have to satisfy Georgia Pathways to Coverage’s work requirement under a revised plan for the Medicaid program that will be submitted to the federal government this spring.
The total number of people eligible for Georgia Pathways would not grow under the plan, but parents and legal guardians of children younger than six would have an easier time gaining and maintaining their coverage. Currently, participants must complete 80 hours of work, job training, education or community service every month – and report that activity to the state.
“For parents or legal guardians trying to get back in the workforce or provide for their families, lack of health insurance may be one of those challenges that is simply too great for them to overcome,” Kemp said during a press conference Wednesday at the state Capitol.
Tens of thousands of people could potentially gain coverage, according to Fiona Roberts, press secretary for the state Department of Community Health, which manages the state’s Medicaid program.
First unveiled in 2019, Georgia Pathways was initially approved by the Trump administration and then stalled by the Biden administration. It was launched in 2023 but has struggled to enroll people, falling well short of the state’s projections.
As of this month, about 6,500 people were enrolled in the program, according to the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute’s enrollment tracker. When the program launched, state officials were planning for as many as 100,000 people to sign up and said that as many as 345,000 people could be eligible.
Kemp, who will outline more of his legislative agenda in his state of the state speech Thursday, continues to forcefully reject full Medicaid expansion.
Last year’s session opened with chatter about a potential alternative to traditional expansion. That hasn’t been the case this year, partly due to the incoming second Trump administration. Instead, there is talk of potential cuts to Medicaid on the federal level.
Georgia Pathways’ federal authorization expires in September, and Kemp says he will seek a renewal under President Donald Trump. Today, Georgia is the only state with a work requirement for its Medicaid program.
“I think now with the new administration in Washington D.C. you’ll see others looking at options like this, and we are certainly looking forward to working with them to see what else, if anything, we can do to continue to innovate,” Kemp said.
“I mean, the old system is not working, and the other side, their only answer to any of this is they want government-run health care, and I am not in that boat,” he said.
Critics of the program quickly blasted Kemp’s proposal.
“Governor Kemp clearly recognizes ‘Pathways’ is a total flop, and leaving thousands of Georgians without coverage who would receive it if he simply agreed to full Medicaid expansion is unacceptable,” Democratic Party of Georgia spokesman Dave Hoffman said in a statement.
“Georgians are sick – literally – of Governor Kemp’s half measures that fail to improve health care in our state.”
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