Georgia officials revealed this week that they could soon drop as many as 30,000 poor elderly or disabled people from Medicaid rolls — an increase of 13,000 from estimates made in early June.
The state Department of Community Health said the cuts come after the Medicaid system sent out warnings to almost all of the affected residents. But many of those affected said they never received the notices to renew.
Earlier this month, lawyers for several blindsided Medicaid recipients said a majority of the original 17,000 were dual eligibles, allowing them Medicaid and Medicare services.
Of the nearly $10 billion on Medicaid that Georgia spent in 2016, a quarter of those payments were made to long-term care facilities.
Some of the dual eligibles told the Atlanta Journal Constitution that they visited state offices or called health officials to try to resolve the issues. State officials agreed on Monday that some people—68—were cut off without receiving fair warning.
Lawyers for those affected still estimate the affected are in the thousands, and they say computer record systems back up those claims.
The newspaper reported the health department will give the 17,000 who’ve already been cut off until Aug. 31 to renew and provide back pay for missed benefits to those who are approved.
But the department is still trying to figure out how to accommodate the additional 13,000 now known to be impacted.
