ATLANTA – The Georgia Board of Community Health voted Thursday to seek federal approval of a plan to extend Medicaid coverage to new mothers for up to one year after their babies are born.
The American Rescue Plan Act President Joe Biden signed into law in March of last year gave states the option to extend Medicaid to new mothers for up to a year.
The General Assembly passed a bill sponsored by state Sen. Dean Burke, R-Bainbridge, and backed by Gov. Brian Kemp on the final day of this year’s legislative session accomplishing the change.
The legislation, approved unanimously in the Senate and overwhelmingly in the Georgia House of Representatives, would replace the current policy, which provides Medicaid coverage for up to six months postpartum, with a full year of coverage.
Extending Medicaid to new mothers for an additional six months will cost about $85 million during the coming fiscal year, Lynnette Rhodes, executive director of medical assistance plans for the state Department of Community Health, told board members Thursday. The state will put up $27.4 million, while the rest will be covered by the federal government, she said.
The extended coverage is due to take effect Oct. 31, subject to the approval of the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.
ATLANTA – Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan is forming a Senate study committee to look for ways to foster growth at Georgia’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and promote access to high-demand industries for the schools’ graduates.
The Interim Legislative Study Committee on Excellence, Innovation and Technology at Historically Black Colleges and Universities will include four Senate Democrats and one Republican. As lieutenant governor, Duncan serves as president of the Senate.
“Georgia’s recognition as a leader in workforce diversity would not be possible without the support of the state’s HBCUs, which produce top-notch graduates that go on to serve as leaders in their respective industries,” Duncan said Wednesday.
“This committee will play a vital role in ensuring the Peach State has the necessary infrastructure to promote and retain the talents of HBCUs and their graduates.”
The committee will be chaired by Sen. Sonya Halpern, D-Atlanta.
“As the daughter of parents who both attended an HBCU and with the rich history and significant economic impact our HBCU’s have played in our state, I commend Lt. Gov. Duncan for this opportunity to identify ways the state can further eliminate roadblocks in the higher education system and promote opportunities for communities of color,” Halpern said. “I look forward to producing an impactful outcome from the committee’s findings.”
Other members of the committee include Sens. Jason Anavitarte, R-Dallas; Tonya Anderson, D-Lithonia; Freddie Powell Sims, D-Dawson; and Valencia Seay, D-Riverdale.
Georgia’s HBCUs include Albany State University, Savannah State University and Fort Valley State University – all members of the University System of Georgia – Paine College in Augusta, and the institutions that comprise the Atlanta University Center: Clark Atlanta University, Morehouse College, Morehouse School of Medicine, and Spelman College.
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.
The monkeypox virus (photo credit: CDC/Cynthia S. Goldsmith)
A metro Atlanta man has a confirmed case of orthopoxvirus, according to a statement released by the Georgia Department of Public Health (DPH) on Wednesday.
The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is now testing to confirm if the disease is monkeypox, said DPH spokesperson Nancy Nydam.
Monkeypox is one form of the orthopoxvirus. Others include variola, which causes smallpox.
The Atlanta man has a history of international travel, Nydam said.
Monkeypox is a viral disease that causes the skin to break out in pustules. It was first detected in laboratory monkeys and then discovered in humans in 1970 in the Democratic Republic of Congo, according to the CDC.
Monkeypox typically starts with a fever, lymph node swelling, muscle pains, and malaise, then progresses to a skin rash. The pustular rash can lasts two to four weeks, according to the World Health Organization.
The disease is usually mild but can be life-threatening in some cases.
So far, the World Health Organization has reported 106 confirmed cases in Great Britain, 49 in Portugal, and 26 in Canada.
Monkeypox can be transmitted among people through direct contact with the sores or bodily fluids, intimate contact, and respiratory secretions during “prolonged, face-to-face contact,” according to the CDC.
ATLANTA – Democrat Stacey Abrams released her first ad of the general election campaign for governor Wednesday, hitting Republican Gov. Brian Kemp on guns, abortion and tax cuts.
In the 30-second ad, Abrams targets legislation the GOP-controlled General Assembly passed this year allowing Georgians to carry firearms without a permit.
“[Kemp] made it easier for criminals to carry guns in public,” the ad’s narrator says.
The ad goes on to criticize the “heartbeat” bill lawmakers passed in 2019, the governor’s first year in office, which prohibits abortion after a fetal heartbeat is detected, typically about six weeks into pregnancy.
Guns and abortion rose to the top of the Democrats’ list of issues to aim at Republicans in recent weeks.
Early last month, the leaking of a first draft of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling appeared to put the court on a path toward overturning the 1973 Roe. v. Wade ruling that legalized abortion. Later in May, two mass shootings in New York and Texas focused attention on gun laws.
During Kemp’s successful Republican primary campaign against former U.S. Sen. David Perdue, the governor said the heartbeat bill was the strictest anti-abortion measure in the nation.
He argued the purpose of the permit-less carry bill was to make it easier for law-abiding Georgians to protect themselves from criminals who don’t bother to seek permits for their illegal weapons.
Abrams’ ad also accuses Kemp of backing tax cuts with benefits that skew toward upper-income taxpayers.
“While Georgians struggle, Kemp gave massive ‘old-school’ tax cuts to himself and his wealthy friends,” the ad asserts.
When he signed the tax cut bill in late April, Kemp said it will save a family of four with an annual household income of $60,000 more than $600 a year.
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.
