FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
July 19, 2005

ATLANTA – State Rep. Jerry Keen, House Majority Leader ( R-St. Simons Island), has appointed six members of the House to the Governor’s Medicaid Modernization Work Group. The Medicaid Modernization for a New Georgia has been proposed by Governor Sonny Perdue, according to the Governor’s office, because the Georgia Medicaid Program needs a fundamental, systemic change.

State Representatives Jeff Brown (R-LaGrange), Mark Butler
(R-Carrollton), Mickey Channel (D-Greensboro), Sharon Cooper
(R-Marietta), Ed Rynders (R-Albany), and Donna Sheldon (R-Dacula) were appointed to the Work Group. The group will be broken into six subcommittees that will review the program, and make recommendations to enable the state to effectively manage public resources while preserving access to health care services.

The program currently faces the prospect of large and deepening annual deficits that could adversely affect Georgia’s planning and flexibility to allocate new tax revenues. It is projected that by fiscal year 2009, the Medicaid program will consume over 50% of all new state revenue.

For additional information, contact the Rep. Keen’s office at
404-656-5052.