ATLANTA — A state health official says Georgia's massive Medicaid program is facing a shortfall of more than $300 million in the coming fiscal year.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that the Georgia Department of Community Health plans to ask state lawmakers for about $308.2 million to make up the gap for fiscal 2013.
Vince Harris, the agency's chief financial officer, updated board members on the situation Thursday.
The looming deficit comes at a time when the state health agency is also facing the addition of another 600,000-plus Georgians to its Medicaid rolls starting in 2014, as part of the program's expansion under the health care law.
Commissioner David Cook called the budget numbers "very daunting."