Deal speech targets health services for the vulnerable

Gov. Nathan Deal, in his annual State of the State address Wednesday, Jan. 11 outlined several health care initiatives to boost mental health services, DFCS, Medicaid and autism coverage.

Deal said his fiscal 2018 budget proposal includes, on average, a 19 percent pay raise for DFCS caseworkers to help ensure “a competitive salary,’’ so the state can recruit and retain the best people for the job.

The Georgia agency, facing an increase in foster kids, continues to struggle with a high turnover rate among caseworkers who help these children, GHN reported recently.

DFCS is recruiting to fill about 170 positions for child welfare case managers, officials said last month. The turnover rate has been linked to low pay, high caseloads and burnout.

In his speech to the Georgia General Assembly, Deal cited a DFCS case manager, Michelle Dorris, as a worthy example of public service. Dorris helped save the life of a South Georgia infant during a medical emergency, Deal said.

Deal unveiled a record $25 billion spending plan for fiscal 2018, which begins July 1.

He also cautioned lawmakers not to take “giant leaps’’ on state health care policy until the U.S. Congress acts on Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act. Republicans who control Congress, along with Donald Trump, who becomes president Friday, Jan. 20, have pledged to repeal the ACA.

Deal said in his address that his budget plan would include about $2.5 million to expand children’s mental health services under Medicaid and PeachCare. Currently, he said, that coverage is only available to children of age 4 and older. It would be extended to younger children under Deal’s proposal.

Deal also advocated that mental health services be improved for military veterans. “They have given of themselves to protect us,’’ Deal said in his address. “It is only fitting that we should protect them in kind.”

In recent years, the nation has seen wars and frequent overseas deployments of troops, and Deal said nearly one in four active-duty service members show signs of some mental health condition. The budget blueprint will include funding to

Citing the current opioid drug epidemic, including oxycontin, Gov. Deal wants the Legislature to pass a bill allowing naloxone, a drug used to reverse opioid overdoses, to be dispensed over-the-counter by pharmacists statewide.