Georgia Officials To Consider Cuts to Medicaid, CHIP Programs

With Georgia's Medicaid and CHIP programs facing a projected budget deficit of $493 million, including $190 million in state funds, in fiscal year 2004, state health officials are considering reducing enrollment and optional services, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. Gov. Sonny Perdue (D) has ordered the Department of Community Health, which oversees Medicaid and CHIP, to reduce its budget by 2.5% in FY 2004 and 5% in FY 2005. The cuts would amount to $454 million over the next two years, including $188 in state funds. Although Perdue suggested cutting payments to doctors, hospitals and nursing homes, Dr. Frank Rossiter, a member of the governing council, said the agency should focus on better managing funds for chronic disease treatment. According to an analysis by Georgia State University's Georgia Health Policy Center, 23% of Medicaid spending in 2001 went toward 1% of beneficiaries, including those with heart failure, low-birthweight babies and people with pneumonia. Community Health officials told council members that the state spends roughly $1.66 billion on health services that are not mandated by the federal government, such as dental care, podiatry services and prescription drugs, and that Medicaid covers thousands of Georgia residents who exceed the program's income limits. Perdue told department Commissioner Tim Burgess to reconsider a proposal made over the summer that would remove 45,000 children from PeachCare, the state's CHIP program. Burgess said that the department only has enough funds to cover about 145,000 children, but roughly 190,000 children are enrolled (Salzer, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 9/11).