ICYMI: Kemp’s Pathways Program Has Spent a Shocking $26 Million Taxpayer Dollars with 90% on Administrative Costs

Failed Program Has Enrolled Only 3,500 Georgians, Exposed as Near-Total Boondoggle

New reporting from KFF Health News shows the Pathways to Coverage program, Brian Kemp’s narrow and restrictive alternative to full Medicaid expansion, has already cost taxpayers $26 million—over 90% of which has gone to consultants and administrative costs. In nearly nine months of operation, the program has enrolled merely 3,500 people—a small fraction of the numbers it was projected to enroll and a much smaller fraction of those who would be covered by full Medicaid expansion.

“We always knew Pathways didn’t work,” said DPG Executive Director Tolulope Kevin Olasanoye. “But when only $2 million goes to medical care and $24 million goes to consultants and admin, taxpayers are paying too high a price for Brian Kemp to pretend to do something about the staggering number of Georgians who don’t have health insurance. Failure at this level isn’t something a competent leader would accept, much less promote.”

The $24 million already spent on consultants and administrative costs is just the tip of the iceberg: internal documents show administrative costs are projected to balloon to $124 million over the next four years. The report notes that full Medicaid expansion, by contrast, would reduce state spending by $710 million over two years—and cover at least 359,000 Georgians.     

Read the story from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution below:

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