Federal public health emergency renewed another 90 days. What that means for GA Medicaid
The Biden administration renewed the federal public health emergency (PHE) for another 90 days, a timely win as Georgia agencies prepared for Medicaid eligibility reviews to resume.
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the emergency order allowed states to adjust their policies to prevent people with Medicaid from losing health coverage. In Georgia, only people who died, were incarcerated, moved out of state or asked for their coverage to end had their cases closed, according to the Georgia Department of Human Services (DHS).
By renewing the public health emergency, Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra extended this policy to Oct. 13.
In recent months, DHS asked Medicaid recipients to review and update their personal information on the Georgia Gateway website to be prepared for the PHE to come to an end. The personal information the agency is asking people to update includes:
Phone number
Address
Job or income
Number of people in the household
DHS plans to open an additional 108 offices across the state between August and November 2022, according to a news release. These offices will allow Medicaid recipients to have more fact-to-face interaction with DHS ahead of the emergency declaration ending, the release said.
In Muscogee County, DHS opened the Division of Family and Children Services (DFCS) office on April 1 under a “hub” structure, spokesperson Kylie Winton told the Ledger-Enquirer. The office serves several counties in Region 8, she said.
The Muscogee County DFCS office is open Tuesday through Thursday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Employees in the office are available to assist customers with previously scheduled appointments on Mondays and Fridays.
DFCS offices in Harris and Chattahoochee counties will open to the public on Aug. 15, Winton said.
The location in Harris County will be open Tuesdays and Wednesdays, and the Chattahoochee County offices will operate on Tuesdays.
Both locations will be open from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Georgia residents can find more information about the Medicaid unwinding process on the DHS website.
This story was originally published July 26, 2022 at 5:31 AM.
