Medicaid Much More Than Medical Care

Georgia plans to revamp its Medicaid program, possibly by expanding the use of for-profit companies to manage care for more recipients. Sunday’s Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported on the potential advantages and risks to the poor and elderly for whom Medicaid is a lifeline. Today, the paper examines the effect on disabled Georgians who often get job training and other assistance through Medicaid to help them live independently.

Francel Kendrick, 23, works
restocking the nurse supply carts
in the cardiac ICU at Emory
University Hospital

ATLANTA -- People like Francel Kendrick once spent most of their lives locked inside state hospitals. Today, because of Georgia’s Medicaid program, Kendrick and thousands of disabled people like him can hold down a job and ride a city bus to their own homes after work.
Medicaid isn’t just a health plan for low-income people. These days, it’s a job training program, relief for a mom with an autistic son and crisis teams to help someone with schizophrenia live a stable life in the community.