Anita Reuben-Lartey

A top federal official in charge of negotiating with Gov. Brian Kemp on Georgia’s high-stakes health care proposals visited Atlanta on Tuesday to talk about maternal health and other topics.

But Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services administrator, had no answers for when any of the half-million adults uninsured under current Georgia Medicaid rules might have a pathway to coverage.

Kemp and Brooks-LaSure didn’t even meet. A Kemp spokeswoman said the governor’s office got no invitation for a meeting.

It’s been more than a year since the Trump administration stamped a last-minute approval on two of Kemp’s health care “waiver” plans as Donald Trump’s presidential term drew to a close. And it’s been several months since President Joe Biden’s administration raised concerns and paused the plans.

Meanwhile, half a million Georgians remain uninsured in the “coverage gap”: too poor for subsidized ACA exchange insurance under federal law, and ineligible for Medicaid under current Georgia rules.

Both sides say they’re still in talks.

For more than 30 years, the AIDS Walk Atlanta has helped the city raise vital funds to support local HIV and AIDS nonprofit organizations.

Led by the AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), the annual fundraiser will help these organizations continue their mission to bring awareness to and provide services for those living with AIDS.

AHF Atlanta Regional Director Dawn Averill said in a statement that the organization is “proud to present this event as one of the many ways that we educate and empower the local community to join the fight against HIV and AIDS.”

The Center for Black Women Wellness (CBWW) is one of the organizations that will receive funds raised from the walk. Their CEO, Jemea Dorsey says, its mission is to improve the health and well-being of Black women and their families and provide affordable quality healthcare for the uninsured.

“We have always integrated HIV testing in our work and want to recognize it and make it a normal part of receiving care whether you’re receiving GYN or primary care.”

Averill said that this year’s walk would be a family-fun event, with something for everyone to enjoy. 

At a stop Monday in Atlanta, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra applauded Georgia Democrats for pursuing a “workaround” to compel the state to expand the Medicaid program.

“There’s a proposal that the state has put on the table, and we’re reviewing it. We’d like to work with them. We’d like to make it work,” he said, adding: “Georgia’s in the conversation. We just have to do it right.”

Becerra spoke at a roundtable event focused on Black maternal health at the Center for Black Women Wellness in Atlanta. Physicians, midwives and advocates urged more federal funding aimed at reducing the stark disparity in the state’s maternal mortality rate, which leaves Black women four times more likely to die from pregnancy-related issues than white women.

Many of the attendees said that while expanding Medicaid would be a welcome step, state and federal leaders need to take more drastic action to narrow the gap. They urged more money for pilot programs and research initiatives, along with new laws that allow midwives broader medical authorities.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra visited Georgia on Monday amid a battle between state officials and federal Democrats over expanding Medicaid.

Becerra was joined by high-profile Democratic politicians including Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms and U.S. Reps. Carolyn Bourdeaux, Lucy McBath and Nikema Williams.

During his trip, Becerra hosted roundtables with community leaders to hear firsthand the health care issues plaguing Georgians. From Atlanta to Norcross, advocates described racial disparities in medical services, told stories of poor maternal health and voiced support of expanding Medicaid to cover more people.

But Medicaid expansion in Georgia is unlikely, as Republican state officials and lawmakers have refused to take the option to expand insurance for poor adults under the Affordable Care Act.

Gov. Brian Kemp has instead offered his own partial expansion plan to the federal government, which is under review by Becerra’s agency. But the Biden administration has already rejected aspects of the proposal, suggesting that the plan will not get federal approval.

Georgia had the third highest uninsured population prior to the pandemic. The Peach State is one of 12 states that have chosen not to expand the federal health care program.

While at a meeting in Atlanta, Becerra said he is open to working with the state on its proposal but didn’t offer optimism about the outcome.

ATLANTA – A top federal health official says he understands frustration with new mask requirements, but the country can overcome them if people accept responsibility for fighting the coronavirus.

U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra was in Georgia on Monday as COVID-19 infections and hospitalizations in the state continued to rise amid a low vaccination rate.

Becerra says he doesn’t blame Americans for questioning the mask requirement.

But he says everyone shares a responsibility to both get vaccinated and wear masks to help stave off the ongoing surge of the delta variant.