Lawmakers OK Budget, Restore Medicaid Cuts

Budget writers in the Georgia House have restored deep cuts to Medicaid funding that officials warned could have forced some hospitals to shut their doors.

In the spending plan adopted by the House Appropriations Committee on Wednesday, legislators funneled about $200 million in federal stimulus dollars to hospitals and doctors to help offset Medicaid costs. Gov. Sonny Perdue had recommended a 10 percent cut.

Healthcare groups had complained in recent days that while the state was receiving hundreds of millions of dollars in Medicaid money from the federal stimulus package, Georgia was diverting much of that money to other items in the budget that were unrelated to healthcare.

(AP)