by Ty Tagami | Sep 25, 2025 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA — Georgia’s unique approach to Medicaid was set to expire this month, but the state just got a one-year extension from the federal government.
The Pathways to Coverage program, which requires recipients to prove that they work, volunteer or take classes 80 hours a month, will now run through 2026, with modifications intended to increase the number of people who are covered.
As of May, 23 months into the program, there were 7,463 enrolled, well short of the state’s initial projections of 47,000, the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services observed in its extension notice to the Georgia Department of Community Health Tuesday.
To “streamline” compliance and expand coverage, Gov. Brian Kemp’s administration asked for and received permission to amend the program. Rather than requiring recipients to report monthly about their work and other qualifying activities, they will report annually.
And two new qualifying categories were added: parents of children under age 6 do not have to work or engage in other activities if the child is enrolled in Medicaid; and childless, able-bodied adults can meet the requirements by complying with other programs, including the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
Kemp’s office said the extension “further validates” Georgia’s approach to Medicaid, which will soon be a requirement in every state under new federal law.
A recent report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office found that Georgia spent two-thirds of implementation costs on administration rather than on medical assistance, with more than half of the $80 million going to contractors.
Kemp blamed the administration of then-President Joe Biden for driving up costs by obstructing implementation. Kemp praised President Donald Trump.
“Unlike the previous administration which chose to sue, obstruct, and delay, President Trump and his team have worked alongside us to improve Georgia Pathways and ultimately deliver a better program to Georgians who need it most,” Kemp said in a statement Thursday. “We look forward to continuing that partnership in the months ahead.”
by Ty Tagami | Sep 24, 2025 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA — Georgia health officials are monitoring seven people for measles after they came in contact with infected people.
The state Department of Public Health said Tuesday it had confirmed three new measles cases, including one on Sept. 11.
“Two of the individuals are unvaccinated, and the third has an unknown vaccination status. They are isolating at home,” the agency said in a statement.
The statement said 268 close contacts had been identified but only seven are enrolled in “active” monitoring. The agency said the best protection against measles is vaccination and that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that children receive their first dose of vaccine between 12 and 15 months of age and a second dose between ages 4 and 6.
The three new measles cases bring the total to 10 in Georgia this year, up from six last year.
Measles is a highly infections disease, but it was declared eliminated in the Unted States in 2020, meaning there was no spread within the country and new cases developed only after travel abroad.
But infections started climbing during the COVID-19 pandemic, with 49 cases in 2021 and 121 in 2022. Infections fell to 59 in 2023 but then started rising sharply last year.
In April, State Epidemiologist Dr. Cherie Drenzek updated the state board of health about a surge in measles infections in West Texas. “Every single one is a public health emergency,” she said at that briefing.
Last week, a group called the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommended to the CDC that toddlers through age 3 be immunized for varicella (chickenpox) through standalone vaccination rather than through the combination measles, mumps, rubella, and varicella (MMRV) vaccine.
But the recommendation caused a reaction by the American Academy of Pediatrics, which still recommends the combined MMRV vaccine. The organization’s president, Dr. Susan J. Kressly, said in a statement that the committee “promoted false claims and misguided information about vaccines as part of an unprecedented effort to limit access to routine childhood immunizations and sow fear and mistrust in vaccines.”
The Georgia Department of Public health advised parents to consult with their doctor or health care provider about the best vaccination for their children.
by Ty Tagami | Sep 24, 2025 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA — Metro Atlanta voters will head to the polls again in November to fill another vacancy in the Georgia Senate, after Democrat Jason Esteves resigned his seat this month.
Esteves, a former Atlanta school board member who was first elected to the Senate in 2022, resigned from the District 35 post on Sept. 10 to focus on his gubernatorial campaign.
He was re-elected without opposition in November, and voters in his Senate district in Cobb and Fulton counties will be invited back to the polls Nov. 18 to name a successor, the Georgia Secretary of State’s office said Wednesday.
A runoff, if necessary, will be held Dec. 16. Candidate qualifying will occur Sept. 29 to Oct. 1, with absentee voting starting Oct. 27.
Voters in Cherokee and Fulton counties went to the polls Tuesday to select a successor for another vacant post, naming Republican Jason Dickerson to the Senate District 21 seat that Brandon Beach vacated after President Donald Trump appointed him U.S. Treasurer in March.
by Ty Tagami | Sep 24, 2025 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA — Republican Jason Dickerson cruised to a strong finish ahead of a Democratic challenger in the special election Tuesday to fill a vacant state Senate seat in the northern suburbs of metro Atlanta.
Dickerson, a businessman from Canton in Cherokee County, took about 60% of the vote against Alpharetta lawyer Debra Shigley in the low turnout race, winning with a commanding majority that was still smaller than Republican margins last year.
Democrats held out hope that Shigley would turn the red bastion blue after a strong showing in the Aug. 26 special election.
She had taken 40% of the vote, well ahead of Dickerson, in second place with 17%. But Shigley was the sole Democrat while Dickerson was splitting voters with five other Republicans.
He consolidated those voters on Tuesday to deliver a solid victory in state Senate District 21.
The Senate seat was open because Brandon Beach, who hailed from Alpharetta, vacated it in early May after President Donald Trump appointed him to be U.S. Treasurer.
Dickerson’s win secures Republicans’ 33-23 advantage in the state Senate. It also maintains GOP control of the General Assembly given the party’s majority in the House.
“National Democrats and left-wing special interests threw everything they had at this race, but voters yet again rejected their out-of-touch radical agenda,” said Sen. Jason Anavitarte, R-Dallas, the Senate majority leader.
The outcome also secures the Republican bastion in north Fulton County and north Cherokee County, where Trump won two votes for every one for Kamala Harris in the November presidential election.
The turnout of about 30,000 was well below the 115,000 in November. The Republican margin was also smaller. Beach was re-elected in November with 70% of the vote, 10 percentage points more than Dickerson took Tuesday. Trump won 66% of the district’s votes.
The state Democratic Party saw Shigley’s loss as a victory of sorts, saying she “overperformed” compared with the outcome last year.
Harris won 33% of the votes in the district against nearly 40% for Shigley.
“Republicans having to play defense in a ‘safe’ district is a sure sign that they’ll continue struggling to defend their toxic agenda all the way through 2026,” said Charlie Bailey, chairman of the Georgia Democrats. He said his party will follow Shigley’s example, competing everywhere for working families whether the district is red or blue.
Anavitarte said Democrats lost because “liberal keyboard warriors were yelling into the void about flipping this seat” while Dickerson’s campaign focused on basics like lower taxes, the economy and safety.
by Ty Tagami | Sep 23, 2025 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA — Georgia’s two public flagships for higher education placed in the top 100 again along with Emory University in the annual U.S. News rankings for 2026.
The Georgia Institute of Technology moved up a spot to 32nd. The University of Georgia remained at 46th and Emory at 24th.
All three were tied with others in the publication’s rankings for national universities published Tuesday.
Emory held the same spot as Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., also private.
Tech placed the same as two public universities in California and with the private New York University. UGA tied with four others (three private and one public).
The scoring is driven by up to 17 factors, such as graduation rates, first-year retention rates, faculty salaries and post-graduation earnings.
U.S. News offers more granular scoring for specific areas of study.
Emory’s nursing school ranked second, behind Duke University’s. Tech’s environmental and industrial programs both ranked No. 1, and its biomedical school was tied for the top spot with Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. UGA’s insurance program secured the top spot.
Tech’s undergraduate engineering programs ranked third overall, behind the top-ranked Massachusetts Institute of Technology and second-place Stanford University. Both of those schools are private. Tech tied for third with the University of California, Berkeley, another public institution.
Price is an important consideration for many. Tech and UGA each charge in-state students just over $10,000 a year for tuition and fees and triple that for students from outside Georgia, the publication reported. Emory’s sticker price is nearly $70,000.
