Kemp, Carr Waste Taxpayer Money on Fight Against Full Medicaid Expansion

Today, Brian Kemp and Chris Carr began wasting more taxpayer money on a lawsuit fighting for their partial, restrictive Medicaid proposal, which would leave hundreds of thousands of Georgians eligible for Medicaid expansion without health care coverage.

Kemp has stubbornly rejected full Medicaid expansion – which is paid for and would cover up to 646,000 Georgians – in favor of his partial, restrictive Medicaid proposal, which would cost the state more money and cover fewer people. His gubernatorial primary opponent David Perdue is just as bad, having voted to gut Medicaid expansion in the U.S. Senate.

The lawsuit that Kemp and Carr are spending taxpayer dollars on seeks to impose burdensome work and eligibility requirements that would leave hundreds of thousands of Georgians in need of health care stranded without coverage, including “those who are mentally ill,” someone “taking full-time care of a relative with Alzheimers,” or someone “unable…to go through the long process to be federally certified as disabled.”

“It’s bad enough that Brian Kemp refuses to implement full Medicaid expansion – now, he and his henchman, Chris Carr, are wasting taxpayer dollars fighting for a restrictive health care proposal that leaves the mentally ill, Georgians with disabilities, and those caring for sick relatives behind,” said Rebecca Galanti, spokesperson for the Democratic Party of Georgia. ‘Georgians deserve leaders who put people before politics, and voters will hold Brian Kemp, Chris Carr, and Georgia Republicans accountable at the ballot box for their continued insistence on withholding health care from half a million Georgians.”

BACKGROUND: Medicaid Expansion Would Bring Health Care, Jobs, and Economic Boost to Georgia

• 646,000 Georgians stand to gain health coverage under Medicaid expansion. 

• 269,000 Georgians remain uninsured because of Georgia’s failure to expand Medicaid, and Georgia’s uninsured rate of 13.7 percent is the third highest in the country.

• Medicaid expansion would create an estimated 64,300 jobs across Georgia, including 22,000 in the health sector and thousands across other sectors.

• Medicaid expansion could add 12,000 jobs and $1.3 billion to rural Georgia economies.

• Federal funding would cover Georgia’s Medicaid expansion with an estimated $710 million leftover.

• By expanding Medicaid, Georgia would gain more than $3.5 billion in federal funding in 2022 and $110 million in increased state and local tax revenue.

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