On Feb 19th, a scathing new report from The Current details how Georgia Governor Brian Kemp’s “Pathways to Coverage” health care program has completely failed.

A year and a half into Kemp’s signature work-around to avoid fully expanding Medicaid, Pathways has burned $86.9 million taxpayer dollars on a glitch-plagued website that has created an application backlog of 16,000 applicants while covering only 6,500 Georgians – 75% below projections for just the program’s first year – a mere fraction of whom would be covered if Kemp simply acknowledged his failure and fully expanded Medicaid. 

“Brian Kemp’s $87 million taxpayer-funded vanity project to improve his personal political image is a total flop, and Georgians are literally sick of it,” said DPG spokesman Dave Hoffman. “There is bipartisan support to fully expand Medicaid to save rural hospitals, deliver needed care and create jobs – if only Brian Kemp would swallow his pride and do what’s right for Georgia.”

KEY POINTS FROM THE REPORT:

• The Pathways program has cost federal and state taxpayers more than $86.9 million, three-quarters of which has gone to consultants.
• Pathways has enrolled just 6,500 people in 18 months – 75% fewer than the state had estimated for Pathways’ first year. 
• The program has a backlog of 16,000 applications awaiting processing, and in some months, upwards of 40% of people who started applications for Pathways gave up.
• In response to Pathways’ low enrollment numbers, Kemp’s spokesperson Garrison Douglas said the governor never thought it was realistic to enroll the entire pool of eligible Georgians in the program.
• Kemp’s most recent response to Pathways’ abysmal enrollment numbers after already wasting tens of millions of taxpayer dollars: hand another $10.7 million taxpayer dollars to consultants. 

From the article:

Paul Mikell lives in an area outside Atlanta without reliable internet service – and he doesn’t have the income for a phone plan with unlimited data. It takes him more than an hour each month to upload the employment documents necessary to reconfirm his eligibility, often using the free Wi-Fi at his public library.

Sometimes, Mikell said, the task has stretched days, even a whole week, because the Pathways verification portal freezes or crashes. One time, he said, he waited eight days for customer support to retrieve a password and restore his access. 

The 49-year-old works part time for a hauling and trucking company in exchange for housing. He also picks up odd jobs to support his young son and elderly father. He does not receive traditional pay stubs that could be easily pulled by the state to verify his work status.

“It’s really, really difficult,” said Mikell, adding that stress over the possibility of losing coverage keeps him awake at night. “But it’s the only health care for someone like me.” 

Mikell’s informal employment situation is typical for many low-income Americans who exist outside mainstream financial networks, and illustrates why verification can be an arduous process for programs with work requirements, said Jennifer Wagner, an expert in Medicaid enrollment technology at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a Washington think tank. In Georgia, 65% of people eligible for Pathways are employed at least part time, while many of the rest are tethered to unpaid work such as caregiving that Pathways does not recognize, state data shows.