The federal agency in charge of Medicaid on Tuesday denied Georgia’s application for a waiver to set up the state’s own health insurance marketplace.
The waiver program was a cornerstone of Republican Gov. Brian Kemp’s approach to reforming health care in the Peach State.
Under Kemp’s model, Georgians would have enrolled in insurance plans through private insurance brokers rather than the federal healthcare.gov health insurance marketplace.
The plan to set up Georgia’s own marketplace system initially gained federal approval under then-President Donald Trump in November 2020.
But after the Biden administration took office, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) asked Georgia to submit a revised plan for the waiver that would reflect new federal policies and rules.
Georgia challenged the HHS findings and did not submit the requested changes to the plan. Kemp argued at the time that the healthcare.gov website was cumbersome and inefficient.
Now, HHS has suspended Georgia’s waiver plan.
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