Georgia’s new work-based Medicare plan will go into place in 2023.  The program will expand Medicaid to some not currently eligible for the program but requires recipients to be working, going to school, or volunteering.  To stay eligible for the program, beneficiaries must continue to spend at least 80 hours per month working, volunteering, or going to school

Georgia’s demonstration program, known as Pathways to Coverage, would widen the state’s Medicaid eligibility criteria to include individuals with annual incomes up to 100% of the Federal Poverty Level, or $13,590 for a single person. Currently, adults in Georgia are only eligible for Medicaid if their incomes are less than 35% of the poverty level, or $4,757, although eligibility criteria for children are more generous.

Critics say that the new program will actually cost the state more money because of the added employees required to monitor the program’s recipients.  There is also concern that the new program will add more bureaucracy to the state’s Medicaid program.