Judge refuses to extend timeframe for Georgia's new Medicaid plan, only one with work requirement

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, left, and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Seema Verma, right, sign healthcare waivers at the state Capitol in Atlanta, Oct. 15, 2020. 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. (AP Photo/Jeff Amy, File)

Updated at 5:52 p.m.

A federal judge ruled that the Biden administration complied with the law when it declined to grant an extension to Georgia’s year-old Medicaid plan, which is the only one in the country that has a work requirement for recipients of the publicly funded health coverage for low-income people.

The state didn’t comply with federal rules for an extension, so the Biden administration legally rejected its request to extend the Georgia Pathways to Coverage program’s expiration date from September 2025 to 2028, U.S. Judge Lisa Godbey Wood ruled Monday.