Alternate Realities
This week has felt like living in an alternate reality that gets more bizarre everyday.
I found a bit of solace in reading Anne Lamott’s opinion piece titled, “The resistance will not be rushed,” She tells us that it’s okay that our resistance lacks the flash and vigor of 2017’s marches and protests. As we continue to look out upon the miles of harsh desert we see before us, we will begin to see things growing, especially as spring arrives. Every act of kindness, to ourselves and others, is resistance.
There are many good people in this country with a variety of gifts and experiences. Each of us will in time figure out what part we are called to do and when. When we center ourselves and focus on what we can control rather than what we can’t, we will slow the chaos and find our place.
I have been learning “metta” meditation from the Buddhist meditation instructor Sharon Salzberg, author of “Real Happiness.” This practice focuses on developing loving kindness, first for yourself, then for those around you, and ultimately for those you really don’t like very much. This helps me walk into the Senate chamber each day with an open heart. If you’re interested, check out Sharon at https://www.sharonsalzberg.com/
Let’s Get Real: A Deep Dive into Georgia’s Medicaid Expansion
This week, Senate Democrats held a press conference to announce SB 50, The PeachCare Plus Act, that fully expands Medicaid. This year’s bill has four Republican co-sponsors — two more than last year. Last session’s bill had the votes to pass committee, but at the last minute Lt. Governor Burt Jones added temporary members to the committee and killed the bill.
The other day during Governor Kemp’s State of the State address, he left me scratching my head when he announced coverage numbers 30 times higher than what I understood them to be. A member of my staff even texted me saying, “Isn’t he just straight up lying about Medicaid?” So I dug down into details to try to figure it out.
The Background: The 2010 Affordable Care Act was designed to reach universal health coverage by expanding state Medicaid programs up to 138% of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL), combined with subsidized premiums for market-based plans from 138% to 400% of the FPL. Before this, Medicaid only covered pregnant women, mothers of young children, people with disabilities and low income elderly. Most people do not realize that without Medicaid expansion, even the poorest low income men and women without children do not qualify for Medicaid.
The Reality: Georgia was slow to expand Medicaid, and when Governor Kemp did, he only expanded it to 100% of the FPL, and included 20-hour a week work requirements (Pathways to Coverage). Because this was not a full Medicaid expansion, the federal match was 66% rather than 90%, so it is costing the state considerably more per capita. Though the stated goal of work requirements is to create a pathway out of poverty, other states had already clearly demonstrated that this doesn’t work. Expanding to only 100% of the FPL also left a coverage gap for those whose incomes were between Medicaid (100% FPL) and ACA coverage (138% FPL).
The Big Secret: Back in 2021 & 2022, when we were all worried about quarantines and COVID tests, President Biden quietly slipped what are called enhanced Premium Tax Credits (ePTC) into the American Rescue Plan and the Inflation Reduction Act so that people between 100% and 138% of the FPL could purchase health plans on the ACA marketplace with $0 premiums. In essence, President Biden closed the coverage gap in states that did not fully expand Medicaid.
Governor Kemp then rebranded Biden’s $0 Premiums into “Georgia Access,” launched a new state website to replace the federal HealthCare.gov website, and began claiming these enrollment numbers as his own success. Thus the 3000% increase in enrollment.
Important sidenote: Democrats need to improve our messaging.
What’s to Come: The enhanced Premium Tax Credits are set to expire this year. If they do, hundreds of thousands of Georgians will fall off the insurance rolls, and Georgia will again have a huge gap in coverage. Fortunately, many Republican governors rely heavily on federal ACA subsidies and Medicaid dollars, so I think even Republicans are not going let Congress cut that funding without a fight.
Caretaking is Real Work -- Take Action!
To help boost Pathways to Coverage enrollment, Kemp recently submitted an application to the federal government that allows taking care of children 6 and under to qualify as work (caretakers have been completely left out of what counts as “work” under Kemp’s Medicaid Expansion). This is a good step, but that still leaves other caretakers out in the cold. Behind the scenes, I’m pushing to expand the definition of “caregivers” to include those caring for sick, elderly or disabled family members.
You can help too: Officially comment on the federal application for Georgia’s Pathways (Medicaid) renewal. Read these instructions from the non-profit advocacy organization Georgians for a Healthy Future carefully, and submit your comments before the deadline of February 20th.
Real Fear -- Take Action to Help Immigrant Communities
One of the highlights this week at the Capitol was city and county governance. I was elected Vice-Chair of my two county delegations, DeKalb and Gwinnett. Also, the Georgia Municipal Association (GMA) and many city delegations were at the Capitol as part of GMA’s “Cities United Summit.” At a meeting with the city of Brookhaven, I got a firsthand briefing about the ICE raids on Buford Highway.
I know many of you want to help. Right now the best thing you can do is donate to the groups that are organizing help. They don’t quite have things figured out yet, but when they do they will need funds to make it happen. I will keep you posted, and by donating, you will be more likely to hear from these organizations directly.
The Latin America Association: https://thelaa.org/donate/
The Latino Community Fund Georgia: https://lcfgeorgia.org/get-involved/donate/
GALEO: https://galeo.org/support-us/donate/
Budget Realities that Bite
Thank you: Many of you answered last week’s call for action with phone calls and emails asking that the Public Budget Hearings be rescheduled (they were cancelled due to snow and replaced with private meetings). The Senate Democratic Caucus has requested that Agency Heads record their presentations so they can be posted on the Georgia General Assembly website.
My Chief-of-Staff, Amy Swygert, has been tuning in to some of the House Subcommittee hearings to try to glean bits of information that we might otherwise have learned from the cancelled hearings.
Budget Cuts: In one House hearing, she learned that there are forty open Assistant District Attorney positions across Georgia and the ones we have are overwhelmed with unworkable case loads. The most serious crimes like murder and sex crimes get priority for prosecution while other crimes like assault or theft languish in a pile for years. This exact situation affects friends and constituents in my district who were victims of crime, but have yet to see any movement on their cases.
Action: This is just one way that Georgia is failing to deliver basic services to our citizens due to underfunding our government. Do you know of others? Please respond to this email and share your stories. I will use your stories to help fight against budget cuts.
Up Next Week
Tort Reform: At the end of the week, crowds of lobbyists gathered in a packed Capitol Rotunda to hear Governor Kemp unveil the first bills of his Lawsuit Reform package, SB 68 & 69. Will they do anything to reduce insurance rates? Stay tuned.
Last year I got out of my comfort zone and started making short videos for Instagram & YouTube. I'm happy to report that this year, I'm cranking out these weekly videos with much more ease. As I've always said, when you practice outside your comfort zone enough, what used to be scary can become second nature. Here are the first two videos I have produced for 2025. Thank you goes to my staff, Amy Swygert and Kathlene Dorking for their help with scripts, my neighbor and friend Mria Dangerfield for all her help and advice, and for Senate Press for their new filming studio and production!
https://youtube.com/shorts/csqL4wdg520?si=xgEc1NxDhwEC8wtT
https://youtube.com/shorts/chDTXxkP_HE?si=y9JodrOgoDKj5AOM
Please follow me on Instagram and YouTube. "Like" and share my videos, especially with people who might be new to state level advocacy, and with young people.