Georgia Lawmakers May Eliminate Fee for Families of ‘Medically Fragile’ Children From Budget Proposal

Georgia lawmakers may eliminate from a proposal to help balance the state budget a monthly fee for parents of "medically fragile" children who receive help with the cost of coverage for medical and therapeutic services under the state Medicaid Katie Beckett Waiver program, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. The program, which helps about 6,000 Georgia families with disabled children, costs about $60 million per year and is financed with a combination of state and federal funds. Gov. Sonny Perdue (R) in January proposed the new fee, which would range from $21 per month to $458 per month based on family income, to help balance the state FY 2004 budget; he also included the fee in his FY 2005 budget proposal. The proposed fee would save Georgia about $355,000 in FY 2004 and $1.5 million in FY 2005, according to state officials. The proposed fee, which would take effect April 1, requires approval from the state Legislature and CMS. In February, the Georgia Department of Community Health, which administers the state Medicaid program, sent letters to families to inform them about the proposed fee and to ask for income verification by Feb. 26. Many parents have said they cannot afford to pay the proposed fee, and in the past week, the office of the governor has received more than 1,000 telephone calls from opponents of the fee, according to Purdue press secretary Loretta Lepore. Last week, the state Senate Appropriations Committee eliminated the fee from the state Senate version of the proposal to balance the state FY 2004 budget. Rep. Nan Grogan Orrock (D), who on Friday held a press conference in opposition to the proposed fee, said, "The whole purpose of the Katie Beckett Waiver is to provide relief to these families that will allow them to keep their children at home. The state is saving a tremendous amount of money by families who are caring for these medically fragile children. Any way you look at it, the proposal is not good public policy" (Guthrie, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 3/4).