Medicaid reforms could hurt poor | ajc.com

This piece does a good job at laying out some of the issues of Medicaid reform for Georgia.

The majority of Georgia Medicaid families have incomes below the poverty level ($16,090 for a family of three). Additional cost-sharing requirements for low-income families would further constrain their efforts to manage their already-limited financial resources. This could force families to choose between obtaining health care for their children or food, clothing, utilities and other necessities.

The first principle of any Medicaid reform should be to "do no harm" to the health care system. Pregnant women who drop Medicaid coverage due to the implementation of premiums will still give birth. Children whose families cannot afford co-payments, resulting in unfilled medications and missed doctor visits, will still get sick. Instead of receiving care efficiently and cheaply through Medicaid, they will receive care inefficiently and expensively in hospital emergency rooms and have more serious health problems when they do receive care.

Medicaid reforms could hurt poor ajc.com