is jason really gone from general hospital?

for the foreseeable future he is - steve burton Moved to Tennessee & I doubt GH will recast the role anytime soon

TV Guide Magazine: Word is, this is one of the most amicable soap exits ever — no money battles, storyline complaints, testy negotiations. Where's all the drama, dude?

Burton: I've been through 21 years of ups and downs with GH — regime changes, cast and crew changes, budget cuts, shakeups of one kind or another, and it's been nothing but a huge positive in my life and for my family. I have no complaints, no negative feelings at all. But it's time to go. I'm going to take some time off and do nothing but relax, just enjoy life a little bit with my wife and kids. I've bought a home in Tennessee, way out in the country outside Nashville. [Laughs] Probably too far out in the country! I've been talking about leaving GH and moving there for the last seven years. The timing was never right and then the economy crashed and I couldn't sell my house in California. I went there many years ago when I did the movie The Last Castle and loved it. Tennessee reminded me of growing up in Ohio. The people are nice, it's family oriented and, now that my kids are 6 and almost 9, I want to get them planted. My contract was coming up at GH so we put the house up for sale again and it went in, like, eight weeks. That opened the door for me to leave GH"

Steve burton did not renew his contract with gh. It was in soap digest almost a month ago. But then he said they forced him to leave. unless they work things out or get a recast, jason morgan is dead.