Georgia saves up to $56 million booting ineligibles from health plan

Supporters of T.R.A.G.I.C. (Teachers Rally to Advocate for Georgia Insurance Choices), rallied for better State Health Benefit Plan coverage in 2014. BRANT SANDERLIN /BSANDERLIN@AJC.COM

Supporters of T.R.A.G.I.C. (Teachers Rally to Advocate for Georgia Insurance Choices), rallied for better State Health Benefit Plan coverage in 2014. BRANT SANDERLIN /BSANDERLIN@AJC.COM

Georgia's massive health care plan that covers teachers, state employees, retirees and their dependents is hoping to save big money by kicking ineligible Georgians off the rolls.

Department of Community Health officials audited employees and dependents on the plan, which covers 640,000 Georgians. It found that almost 16,000 dependents of plan members were receiving coverage even though they were ineligible.

The state did a similar audit more than a decade ago and saved about $30 million. This time the savings could be up to $56 million a year.

That has led to questions about why the state doesn't do such audits more often. To read more on the potential savings, check out our story on myajc.com.