Georgia official reports that the funding gap comes as the state expects to add 600,000 people.
Georgia Health News: Medicaid Faces 'Daunting' Budget Challenges
The state's Medicaid agency has a projected $300 million hole to fill in next year's budget. If the shortfall remains at that level, the financial request to the General Assembly in January will be "very high" from a historical perspective, said Vince Harris, chief financial officer of the Department of Community Health, after the agency's board meeting Thursday. The projected $308 million shortfall for fiscal 2013 stems mostly from growth in the program's spending (Miller, 6/15).
The Atlanta Journal Constitution: State Facing More Than $300 Million Medicaid Shortfall
The looming deficit comes at a time when the state health agency is also facing the addition of another 600,000-plus Georgians to its Medicaid rolls starting in 2014, as part of the program's expansion under the health care law. ... The health care program is also looking at a $90 million deficit for the current fiscal year. That accumulated in large part because the state legislature did not allocate funds for the final month of payments to three for-profit companies that manage care for primarily low-income kids and moms in Medicaid (Williams, 6/14).