Tobacco saves children

For now at least, poor pregnant women and children in Georgia can breathe a little easier knowing that under a state House subcommittee plan, they won’t be dropped from Medicaid or face exorbitant premium increases by PeachCare, Georgia’s health care program for children of the working poor.

Under Gov. Sonny Perdue’s original budget proposal, 12,500 pregnant women and 14,700 children would have been dropped from Medicaid’s roles because of cuts. That would have been one cut among a number of reductions in health care for the poor.

On March 6 and 7, House subcommittee members found the money to fund the programs at their current levels.

Shifting dollars within the Department of Community Health’s budget from one program to another did some of the money magic. But a bulk of the cash to shore up Medicaid and PeachCare will come out of reserves set aside from the state’s portion of the tobacco settlement — about $32 million.

Before the cash infusion, premiums for PeachCare would have risen to the highest levels for any such program in the nation — $90 per month at the top bracket. The cap is now $25 per month for each child or $50 for a family.

The subcommittee, headed by Rep. Jay Shaw, D-Lakeland, also restored the Katie Beckett Waiver for medically fragile children. Under Perdue’s budget, middle-class parents would have been required to pay premiums for a program that helps them pay for anything from therapy to medical services for about 6,000 Georgia kids who suffer from severe medical problems.?Kevin.griffis@creativeloafing.com