Low-income moms will be eligible for a year of Medicaid coverage under a bill Gov. Brian Kemp just quietly signed into law.

But the governor caught advocates by surprise when he rejected language and funding in next year’s budget that would have started the process of expanding Medicaid eligibility to cover low-income Georgians living with HIV.

The mixed health care actions come a few months after Gov. Brian Kemp’s plan to slightly expand the state’s insurance program for the poor and disabled was blocked by the Biden administration, which Kemp is challenging in federal court.

Georgia is one of a dozen states that have not expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, and Kemp pitched his plan as a Georgia-specific alternative. The Medicaid coverage for those living with HIV would have required the state to submit a similar waiver proposal.

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