Senator Reverend Warnock Statement on Federal Decision to Suspend Harmful Georgia Health Care Waiver, Protect Affordable Care Access for Georgians

Press Release

Today, U.S. Senator Reverend Raphael Warnock (D-GA) issued the statement below following an announcement that the Biden Administration is rescinding Part II of Georgia's section 1332 waiver, which approved the creation of the Georgia Access Model--a system that would restrict access to health care coverage for an estimated 646,000 Georgians by eliminating access to HealthCare.gov in Georgia. Senator Warnock has long pushed the Administration to suspend Part II of the approved Georgia's State Innovation Waiver, which would add to the already-high rates of uninsured Georgians and would hamper continuous access to quality and affordable health care. The Senator has previously led Georgia's congressional delegation in urging the Administration to take this step.

"After months of effort, I'm glad the Administration is heeding my call to reverse course on this misguided decision that would undoubtedly lead to fewer Georgians having less access to free and affordable health care," Senator Reverend Warnock said."Now that we've taken this step, I'm going to keep fighting to close the Medicaid coverage gap in Georgia so every Georgian can have the health care access they need."

The Georgia Access Model would have eliminated HealthCare.gov in Georgian, thus removing Georgians' access to a one-stop-shop health care marketplace and jeopardizing affordable health care access for an estimated 646,000 Georgians. Last April, Senator Warnock called on the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to rescind Part II of Georgia's section 1332 waiver. Additionally, Senator Warnock has consistently been on the front lines fighting to close the Medicaid coverage gap in Georgia as well as in the 11 other holdout states.

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