Medicaid officials struggle with surge in long-term care needs

Two news articles look at different parts of Georgia's Medicaid issues.

Georgia Health News: WellCare Picks New Chief For Georgia
The company's naming of David J. McNichols comes as a consulting firm for the state is evaluating the current system of delivering care to Medicaid and PeachCare beneficiaries in Georgia. WellCare has part of that multibillion-dollar business, along with two other managed care companies. The state pays the three firms a total of more than $2.5 billion a year to serve the Medicaid and PeachCare populations (Miller, 11/16). 

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Seniors Turn To Medicaid For Long-Term Care
By the time lung cancer and back problems forced Geraldine Woelke into a nursing home, they had consumed her savings and left her only one option: Get on Medicaid to help pay the $5,000-a-month bill. ... And that's a headache for Georgia officials, who are already at wit's end over the billions of taxpayer dollars that Medicaid sucks out of the state budget. Medicaid pays for almost 28,000 Georgians to live in nursing homes, according to the state Department of Human Resources (Schneider, 11/17).