by Dave Williams | Jul 12, 2024 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – Former Georgia Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine was sentenced to three and a half years in prison Friday for conspiracy to commit health-care fraud in connection with unnecessary lab testing.
Oxendine, 62, pleaded guilty to the charge in federal court in March, admitting that his insurance consulting business ordered the tests from a lab company in Texas in return for hundreds of thousands of dollars in kickbacks, working with a co-conspirator, Dr. Jeffrey Gallups.
A Republican from Gwinnett County now living in Florida, Oxendine was elected insurance commissioner in 1994 and served four terms. He ran for governor in 2010 but finished fourth in the GOP primary.
“Oxendine abused his position as the Georgia insurance commissioner by undermining the integrity of the state’s health-care system,” said Ryan Buchanan, U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Georgia.
“This case demonstrates our office’s commitment to work with our law enforcement partners to hold individuals accountable who prioritize personal greed at the expense of the public’s trust.”
According to Buchanan and the information presented in federal court, Oxendine and Gallups submitted fraudulent insurance claims for medically unnecessary tests from Next Health, a lab in Texas. Physicians associated with Gallups’ ear, nose, and throat practice were pressured to order the tests.
The lab company agreed to pay Oxendine and Gallups a kickback of 50% of the net profit for eligible specimens Gallups’ practice submitted to the company.
Next Health submitted claims seeking more than $3 million from private health insurers, which paid Next Health more than $750,000. The company then paid $260,000 in kickbacks to Oxendine and Gallups.
When a compliance officer raised questions about the kickbacks, Oxendine told Gallups to lie and say the payments were loans. Oxendine then told Gallups to repeat the lie after Gallups was questioned by federal agents.
Oxendine also was sentenced to serve three years of supervised release after he completes the prison term. In addition, he was ordered to pay more than $760,000 in restitution and a $25,000 fine.
by Dave Williams | Jul 12, 2024 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – Georgia tax collections rose last month compared to June of last year, but the state ended fiscal 2024 with lower tax revenues than the previous year.
The state brought in $3.03 billion in June, up 6.5% compared to the previous June, the Georgia Department of Revenue reported Friday.
But the total tax take for the fiscal year that ended June 30 of about $32.95 billion was down 0.5% compared to fiscal 2023.
However, that doesn’t account for the state not collecting sales taxes on gasoline and other motor fuels for more than half of the last fiscal year. When that is taken into account, net revenues for fiscal 2023 were down 3.4%.
In June, individual income tax receipts rose by 2.8% over the previous June, largely the result of a 39.6% decrease in refunds issued by the state Department of Revenue.
Net sales taxes were up slightly by 0.7% last month. Corporate income tax collections in June rose by 31.4% compared to the same month a year ago, also driven by a significant decrease in refunds, in this case 91.5%.
The decline in tax collections for the last fiscal year came as no surprise to Gov. Brian Kemp and leaders in the General Assembly, who had witnessed a steady slide in state tax revenues for months prior to the uptick in June. However, the state has plenty of cushion to weather that downturn in tax receipts in the form of a $16 billion budget surplus built up during the last several years.
by Dave Williams | Jul 12, 2024 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – Georgians with incomes too high to qualify for Medicaid but not enough to afford private health insurance would receive temporary federal subsidies under legislation introduced by U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga.
The Bridge to Medicaid Act would replace federal tax credits due to expire in 2026 with premium subsidies to help people with incomes between 100% and 138% of the federal poverty level buy health coverage in the private market. The subsidies would continue for three years to give policymakers in Georgia and other states that have not expanded Medicaid time to debate the issue.
“Health care is a human right,” Warnock said Thursday. “In the richest nation in the world, it’s a travesty that there are still hundreds of thousands of Georgians who don’t have access to the affordable health care they need due solely to the craven decisions of state politicians.”
Georgia’s Republican governors and the GOP-controlled General Assembly have opposed Medicaid expansion since a Democratic Congress passed the Affordable Care Act early in the last decade, citing the cost to taxpayers.
Gov. Brian Kemp steered a limited Medicaid expansion through the legislature that took effect a year ago this month offering coverage to those with incomes up to 100% of the poverty level. However, far fewer Georgians than anticipated have enrolled in the program.
Republicans have pledged to consider a more robust Medicaid expansion when a state commission created this year to examine how Georgia can improve health-care access begins holding hearings.
But Kemp remains adamant that a full expansion of Medicaid will not happen on his watch. Georgia is among 10 states that have yet to expand Medicaid coverage through the Affordable Care Act.
Four other Senate Democrats are co-sponsoring Warnock’s bill, including Georgia Sen. Jon Ossoff.
by Dave Williams | Jul 11, 2024 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – Prominent African-American faith leaders gathered at the Georgia Capitol Thursday to support President Joe Biden’s re-election bid amid a growing chorus that he should step aside because of his age.
The group’s news conference came two weeks after Democrat Biden’s poor performance in a nationally televised debate with presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump in Atlanta produced a storm of calls for Biden to abandon his quest for a second term.
An increasing number of Democrats in Congress are publicly urging Biden to step aside, likely in favor of Vice President Kamala Harris.
But Democrats in Georgia’s congressional delegation are sticking with the president, as are the state’s African-American faith leaders.
“Instead of talking about how old he is, why don’t you talk about how much he’s accomplished?” said Georgia AME Bishop Reginald Jackson, taking aim at the intense coverage the news media has given since the June 27 debate to doubts over Biden’s fitness to continue as president. “His record speaks louder than his (debate) performance.”
“We cannot judge a man based on one night,” the Rev. Timothy McDonald added.
Jackson went on to praise Biden’s achievements on behalf of Black Americans, including the lowest Black unemployment rate in the nation’s history and the unprecedented level of federal funding pouring into America’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities.
McDonald said African-American faith leaders expect to play a large role in getting out the vote for Biden in November, as they have done in past campaigns on behalf of Democratic presidential candidates.
“The Black church will once again save America,” he said. “We’re going to organize our people, mobilize our people, and set records for turnout.”
by Dave Williams | Jul 11, 2024 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – Oglethorpe Power is going all-in on natural gas as a source of electrical generation.
The Tucker-based utility, which serves 38 electric cooperatives, announced plans Thursday to build two new natural gas projects in Monroe and Talbot counties.
The larger of the two, to be located in the city of Forsyth, will produce about 1,200 megawatts of electricity on land Oglethorpe Power already owns. Representing a $2 billion investment, the new facility will be among the highest-performing, lowest-emitting and most efficient natural gas plants in Georgia, the utility wrote in a news release.
The second project will be constructed at an existing plant in Box Springs. The 240-megawatt unit will represent an investment of about $360 million.
The additional generating capacity is necessary to keep pace with Georgia’s rapid growth, said Mike Smith, Oglethorpe Power’s president and CEO.
“The electric cooperatives we serve need more energy capacity to meet their increasing demand,” Smith said. “These two new natural gas projects demonstrate growth in Oglethorpe Power’s generation portfolio and our focus on reliable, affordable and sustainable energy for our members.”
The company will release a timeline for both projects once all necessary permits have been obtained.
