Medicaid Expansion

Alabama Arise is proud to be a member of the Cover Alabama Coalition, a group of advocates, businesses, faith leaders and health care professionals making the case for Medicaid expansion. Click here to learn more about Cover Alabama.

Hundreds of thousands of Alabama adults have no health coverage. Tens of thousands of them suffer daily because they can't afford treatment for chronic health conditions like cancer, diabetes or heart disease. Hundreds die every year as a result. Meanwhile, eight rural hospitals have closed in Alabama since 2011, and many others are at risk of the same fate.

Medicaid expansion would reduce human suffering and strengthen Alabama's health care system. It would save lives and deliver financial peace of mind to families who desperately need it. And it would create jobs and generate tax revenues by pumping billions of federal dollars into the state's economy. Arise's research reveals why Medicaid expansion is the right choice for Alabama from economic, health and moral standpoints.

Personal Stories

‘No one should have to go through what I did’

When Diana Isom became pregnant with her first son, Keenan, back in 2021, it was what she’d always wanted.

“My husband and I had been trying for years. I was so happy, but immediately started thinking about timing,” Diana said.

Timing is always a big consideration for most first-time parents, but for Diana and her husband, Luke, things were a little more complicated. When Luke lost his job suddenly, he had to start training in a new technical field. This meant he lost the private health coverage they had previously.

Issues
Health, Medicaid Expansion
Date
January 10, 2024
Author
Whit Sides
Resources

Alabama Arise toolkit on the Medicaid ‘unwinding’ period

Alabamians at every income level should be able to get the health care they need to survive and thrive. Medicaid plays a vital role toward meeting that goal, providing health coverage for more than 1 million Alabamians with low incomes. But tens of thousands of Alabamians may lose their Medicaid coverage by June 2024 in a process called “unwinding.”

Issues
Health, Medicaid Expansion
Date
August 23, 2023
Author
Alabama Arise
Personal Stories

See the Gap: ‘Medicaid expansion would end up creating more revenue for the business’

Just outside the Forecast Salon in Homewood is a gigantic mural painted along the wall. It features every color of the rainbow jumping out into the street. You’re up close with a 10-foot disco ball painted right beside a unicorn and two massive blue and purple manicured coifs. Forecast’s owner Brittany McNaughton (friends call her [...]
Issues
Health, Medicaid Expansion
Date
July 27, 2023
Author
Whit Sides
Personal Stories

See the Gap: ‘I needed help but couldn’t afford it’

The smiles in Eryn Mullins’ photos jump off the screen. But she’ll be the first to tell you it wasn’t always this way. “I was on my dad’s insurance, and then suddenly, I wasn’t. I was uninsured for three years after that,” Eryn said.

Issues
Health, Medicaid Expansion
Date
July 13, 2023
Author
Whit Sides
Fact Sheet

It’s time to expand Medicaid and close Alabama’s coverage gap

Here are five reasons it’s time to expand Medicaid and close Alabama’s coverage gap: Nearly 300,000 Alabamians with low incomes would benefit from Medicaid expansion. People in the coverage gap earn too much to qualify for Medicaid, but not enough for an affordable private health insurance plan on the Marketplace. This leaves them in the [...]
Issues
Health, Medicaid Expansion
Date
April 10, 2023
Author
Alabama Arise
Personal Stories

Cover Alabama Lobby Day 2023

The Cover Alabama coalition held its first Lobby Day on March 21 on the steps of the State House in Montgomery. Faith leaders, community advocates and people living in Alabama's health coverage gap spoke about the importance of Medicaid expansion for their families and communities. Advocates then met with lawmakers to urge them to save [...]
Issues
Health, Medicaid Expansion
Date
March 23, 2023
Author
Matt Okarmus
Report

PARCA presentation on Medicaid expansion in Brewton

Medicaid expansion would save lives, create jobs and strengthen the health care system across Alabama. Ryan Hankins, executive director of the Public Affairs Research Council of Alabama (PARCA), gave a presentation on Medicaid expansion's benefits at a public event that Alabama Arise co-hosted on Feb. 27, 2023, at DW McMillan Memorial Hospital in Brewton.
Issues
Medicaid Expansion, Health
Date
March 17, 2023
Author
Matt Okarmus
Personal Stories

Brewton community event on Medicaid expansion in Alabama

“Our rural hospital is the first line of care for the people in our community. If someone’s really sick, they need to be stabilized. They can be stabilized here quickly and efficiently. If our hospital closed ... people will die.” That was the blunt reality that Dr. Marsha Raulerson shared at a health care panel [...]
Issues
Health, Medicaid Expansion
Date
March 17, 2023
Author
Matt Okarmus
Fact Sheet

Expand Medicaid and close Alabama’s health coverage gap

For years, Gov. Kay Ivey and legislators have said cost is the barrier to covering Alabamians with low incomes through Medicaid. However, thanks to new federal incentives for Medicaid expansion, any concerns about that barrier are gone. Now more than ever before, we have the opportunity to ensure no Alabamian has to choose between going [...]
Issues
Health, Medicaid Expansion
Date
March 14, 2023
Author
Debbie Smith
Personal Stories

See The Gap: ‘Possibilities that we just can’t afford’

Kayla is a talented, young hairstylist who has built up a successful clientele in one of Birmingham’s hippest salons. She’s been a stylist for 12 years and said she loves the independence it gives her. She sees dozens of clients every week and takes great pride in her work.

“It’s a great industry, but it’s not taken as seriously as it needs to be,” Kayla said. “Especially relative to the number of people that come through our doors to get their hair done.

Kayla grew up in a small town in Walker County but started her career in an “Over the Mountain” suburb south of Birmingham. The salon served a wealthier clientele, but it didn’t offer many benefits to stylists. Among the benefits she didn’t have: employer-provided health insurance.

Issues
Health, Medicaid Expansion
Date
March 1, 2023
Author
Whit Sides