Some 500,000 fewer Georgia residents are enrolled in public health care since the expiration of pandemic-era coverage protections.
Net Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) enrollment in Georgia has fallen from over 2.5 million to under 2 million in the 19 months between March 2023 and October 2024, according to health policy-focused nonprofit KFF.
Why It Matters
Georgia’s 21 percent drop in enrollment surpasses the national average of 16 percent. Additionally, its disenrollment rate—representing the percentage of individuals who were removed but couldn’t renew their coverage—stands at 45 percent, well above the national average of 31 percent. This raises concerns about why a higher proportion of state residents lost their coverage after the end of pandemic-era protections.
What To Know
Over half a million Georgians have lost coverage due to the national “disenrollment” or “unwinding” process that began in March 2023.
From early 2020 until this point, a provision in the Families First Coronavirus Response Act ensured “continuous enrollment” for Medicaid and CHIP recipients, preventing states from conducting coverage redeterminations during the pandemic…