HB 1002: Social services; transfer Medicaid coverage for foster children from managed care to fee-for-service

Right now, Medicaid coverage for foster children in Georgia is handled through a care management organization, a private managed care plan the state contracts with. This bill would create a new Code section requiring the Department of Community Health to shift that coverage to fee-for-service Medicaid, where the state pays health care providers directly instead of through a managed care plan. The change would happen when the current managed care contract expires or renews, or earlier if the contract allows it. The bill covers foster children under 18 as well as young people up to age 26 who were in foster care and had Medicaid on their 18th birthday. The department would need to submit any required amendments to its Medicaid state plan to the federal Department of Health and Human Services. The new law would automatically expire on December 31, 2028, and would take effect as soon as the Governor signs it.

• Requires the Department of Community Health to move Medicaid coverage for foster children from a managed care organization to the fee-for-service Medicaid program.
• Defines 'foster child' to include those under 18 in Georgia's foster care system and those up to age 26 who were in foster care and had Medicaid at age 18.
• Sets the transfer to occur when the current managed care contract expires or renews, or sooner if the contract permits it.
• Requires the department to submit any necessary Medicaid state plan amendments to the federal Department of Health and Human Services.
• Automatically repeals the new Code section on December 31, 2028.

Foster children and young adults up to age 26 who aged out of foster care while on Medicaid, the Department of Community Health, the Division of Family and Children Services, and the care management organization currently contracted to provide their Medicaid coverage.

Foster children currently get Medicaid through a managed care plan; this bill would switch them to a system where the state pays medical providers directly. That could change which providers accept their coverage and how claims and care coordination are handled, at least through 2028 when the change expires.

• Adds new Code section 49-4-159.5 to Georgia's Medicaid law (O.C.G.A. Title 49, Chapter 4, Article 7).
• Subsection (a) defines 'contract' and 'foster child,' covering both current foster children under 18 and former foster youth up to age 26 who had Medicaid at 18.
• Subsection (b) requires the transfer from managed care to fee-for-service Medicaid at contract expiration or renewal, or earlier if the contract allows.
• Subsection (c) requires the department to file any needed Medicaid state plan amendments with the federal Department of Health and Human Services.
• Subsection (d) automatically repeals the section on December 31, 2028.
• Section 2 sets the effective date as the date the Governor signs the bill or it otherwise becomes law.

1. 2026-02-19House Committee Favorably Reported (House)
2. 2026-01-28House Second Readers (House)
3. 2026-01-27House First Readers (House)
4. 2026-01-16House Hopper (House)

• Beth Camp (R, HD-135)Primary sponsor
• James Hatchett (R, HD-155)

• foster care
• Medicaid
• managed care
• child welfare
• health coverage