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By now, Georgia officials expected their new Medicaid plan, the only one in the nation with a work requirement, to provide health insurance to 25,000 low-income residents and possibly tens of thousands more. But a year since its launch, Pathways to Coverage has roughly 4,300 members, much lower than what state officials projected and a tiny fraction of the roughly half-million state residents who could be covered if Georgia, like 40 other states, agreed to a full Medicaid expansion. (Thanawala, 7/14)

A federal judge on Friday sentenced former Georgia Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine to serve three-and-a-half years in prison after Oxendine pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit health care fraud. U.S. District Judge Steve Jones had one question for the 62-year-old Republican, who was elected four times to the office before mounting a failed run for governor: “Why?” (Amy, 7/13)

The 2022 National Survey on Drug Use and Health showed that just over one-fifth of Hispanic adults reported having a mental illness, defined in the report as a diagnosed mental, behavioral or emotional disorder that may have interfered with their lives. ... Mental health experts, community clinics and politicians are increasingly calling attention to barriers Latinos might face in seeking treatment — like the lack of mental health professionals who are Latino and speak Spanish or other languages — and working to create new programs to address access issues. (Figueroa, 7/13)

For at least the second time in eight months, fertility patients storing their frozen eggs and embryos at St. Luke’s Hospital were left frightened after getting a letter stating that the hospital laboratory had moved their tissues to a storage facility in Texas. (Munz, 7/12)

University of Maryland Shore Regional Health — one of the biggest providers of health care on the Eastern Shore — said it has gotten the final regulatory sign-off needed from the state to build a new medical center in Easton. (Roberts, 7/12)

�鶹Ů�� Health News: California Health Care Pioneer Goes National, Girds For Partisan Skirmishes

When then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger called for nearly all Californians to buy health insurance or face a penalty, Anthony Wright slammed the 2007 proposal as “unwarranted, unworkable, and unwise” — one that would punish those who could least afford coverage. The head of Health Access California, one of the state’s most influential consumer groups, changed course only after he and his allies extracted a deal to increase subsidies for people in need. The plan was ultimately blocked by Democrats who wanted the state to adopt a single-payer health care system instead. (Young, 7/15)

�鶹Ů�� Health News: Rural Hospitals Built During Baby Boom Now Face Baby Bust

Rural regions like the one surrounding this southern Iowa town used to have a lot more babies, and many more places to give birth to them. At least 41 Iowa hospitals have shuttered their labor and delivery units since 2000. Those facilities, representing about a third of all Iowa hospitals, are located mostly in rural areas where birth numbers have plummeted. (Leys, 7/15)