House edits add rate increases and program boosts to Medicaid lines, DCH says
March 11, 2026 | 2026 Legislature Georgia, Georgia
This article was created by AI summarizing key points discussed. AI makes mistakes, so for full details and context, please refer to the video of the full meeting. Please report any errors so we can fix them. Report an error »
Cody Whitlock, presenting House adjustments to the governor's recommendations for the Department of Community Health, summarized an array of Medicaid and programmatic changes the House added to the amended budget.
"The next item is the dental code rate increase—approximately a 20% rate increase across dental codes," Whitlock said, listing other House actions that include a DME floor to align managed-care DME payments with fee schedules, PRTF rate raises to about $800 per day, and a roughly 50% increase on an autism-related code (ABA training) tied to parent training. The House asked DCH to examine applying the highest FQHC PPS (prospective payment system) rate across centers and to expand colorectal cancer screenings to all Federally Qualified Health Centers.
Whitlock also described program-level adds: planning specialists at PRTFs for discharge coordination, expansion of a pediatric psychiatrist consult line using university partners and fourth-year residents to assist rural primary-care providers, and proposals to add support for air-ambulance reimbursement and adult heart-and-lung transplant coverage under Medicaid in limited circumstances.
Committee members asked for details and data for some line items and for clarification where the House added language. Whitlock said several personnel increases in the house recommendation (17 positions in one package) were 50/50 state-federal funded and focused on managed-care compliance, HCBS and pharmacy compliance functions.
Why it matters: The House changes affect rates and benefits used by providers and Medicaid beneficiaries across Georgia and may alter access to services in rural areas. Committee members requested follow-up documentation and clarified that several items were house-only additions rather than governor proposals.
Sources and attributions: All attributions and figures in this article are from Cody Whitlock's presentation to the subcommittee and committee questions recorded in the hearing transcript.
"The next item is the dental code rate increase—approximately a 20% rate increase across dental codes," Whitlock said, listing other House actions that include a DME floor to align managed-care DME payments with fee schedules, PRTF rate raises to about $800 per day, and a roughly 50% increase on an autism-related code (ABA training) tied to parent training. The House asked DCH to examine applying the highest FQHC PPS (prospective payment system) rate across centers and to expand colorectal cancer screenings to all Federally Qualified Health Centers.
Whitlock also described program-level adds: planning specialists at PRTFs for discharge coordination, expansion of a pediatric psychiatrist consult line using university partners and fourth-year residents to assist rural primary-care providers, and proposals to add support for air-ambulance reimbursement and adult heart-and-lung transplant coverage under Medicaid in limited circumstances.
Committee members asked for details and data for some line items and for clarification where the House added language. Whitlock said several personnel increases in the house recommendation (17 positions in one package) were 50/50 state-federal funded and focused on managed-care compliance, HCBS and pharmacy compliance functions.
Why it matters: The House changes affect rates and benefits used by providers and Medicaid beneficiaries across Georgia and may alter access to services in rural areas. Committee members requested follow-up documentation and clarified that several items were house-only additions rather than governor proposals.
Sources and attributions: All attributions and figures in this article are from Cody Whitlock's presentation to the subcommittee and committee questions recorded in the hearing transcript.
Don't Miss a Word: See the Full Meeting!
Go beyond summaries. Unlock every video, transcript, and key insight with a Founder Membership.
✓
Get instant access to full meeting videos
✓
Search and clip any phrase from complete transcripts
✓
Receive AI-powered summaries & custom alerts
✓
Enjoy lifetime, unrestricted access to government data
30-day money-back guarantee
