Can a Medicaid plan that requires work succeed? First year of Georgia experiment is not promising

By now, Georgia officials expected their new Medicaid plan to provide health insurance to 25,000 low income residents. Pathways to Coverage launched last July and is the only Medicaid plan in the country that requires beneficiaries to work or engage in other activities to get coverage. As of June, it had about 4,300 members. Critics believe the dismal enrollment shows the work requirement is too burdensome. Gov. Brian Kemp's office blames the Biden administration for delaying the program’s start and says it’s redoubling efforts to sign people up. The outcome may have implications beyond Georgia with other states eyeing similar work requirements for new Medicaid recipients.