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.

Member Resources

Get involved with the Cover Alabama campaign!

Click here to download a printable PDF of the Cover Alabama flyer. Help us build a better, healthier Alabama for everyone! Alabama Arise is a proud member of the Cover Alabama Coalition. Cover Alabama is a nonpartisan alliance of more than 110 advocacy groups, businesses, community organizations, consumer groups, health care providers and religious congregations [...]
Issues
Health, Medicaid Expansion
Date
July 21, 2021
Author
Letters & Testimony

To strengthen the common good: Six principles for allocating Alabama’s ARPA funding

Introduction Dear Governor Ivey, One of the darkest years in recent memory has put Alabama’s families, communities, health system, businesses – and our leaders at all levels – to the test. Thank you for all your efforts to keep Alabamians safe and secure during this unprecedented emergency. Now that a post-COVID world is dawning, the [...]
Issues
Budgets, Criminal Justice, Health, Housing, Public Transportation, Safety Net, Tax Reform, Economic Opportunity, Coronavirus, Medicaid Expansion
Date
July 7, 2021
Author
Alabama Arise
Personal Stories

‘It’s time for someone to stick up for us’: Walker County’s need for Medicaid expansion

[caption id="attachment_5522" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Rev. Robin Hinkle is the rector at St. Mary’s Episcopal Church in Jasper. Her ministry has greatly scaled up food assistance to the community to help ease financial suffering during the COVID-19 recession. (Photo courtesy of St. Mary’s Episcopal Church)[/caption] Walker County has gained notoriety in recent years as one of [...]
Issues
Health, Coronavirus, Medicaid Expansion
Date
April 15, 2021
Author
Whit Sides
Fact Sheet

Now is the time! Medicaid expansion talking points in Alabama

Timing On Thursday, March 11, 2021, President Biden signed the American Rescue Plan Act, which will bring back federal funding for states to newly expand Medicaid. Thanks to this law, if Alabama expanded Medicaid, the state would get an estimated $940 million boost in federal Medicaid funds over two years. This is enough money to [...]
Issues
Budgets, Health, Coronavirus, Medicaid Expansion
Date
March 12, 2021
Author
Chris Sanders
Report

The State of Working Alabama 2021

Introduction When the COVID-19 pandemic hit Alabama in March 2020, it didn’t just cause massive human suffering and economic disruption. It also revealed suffering and disruption that have long existed and that policymakers have long neglected – or even perpetuated. COVID-19 has laid bare deep racial inequities in Alabama’s economy and social system that have [...]
Issues
Coronavirus, Medicaid Expansion, Budgets, Health, Housing, Safety Net, Economic Opportunity
Date
February 22, 2021
Author
Alabama Arise
Report

The State of Working Alabama 2021, Section 1 – Introduction: The high cost of failing to protect the common good

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit Alabama in March 2020, it didn’t just cause massive human suffering and economic disruption. It also revealed suffering and disruption that have long existed and that policymakers have long neglected – or even perpetuated. COVID-19 has laid bare deep racial and gender inequities in Alabama’s economy and social system that [...]
Issues
Budgets, Health, Housing, Safety Net, Economic Opportunity, Coronavirus, Medicaid Expansion
Date
February 22, 2021
Author
Jim Carnes
Report

The State of Working Alabama 2021, Section 4 – Praised but underprotected: Front-line workers in the pandemic

Where are we now? Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, we’ve grown used to seeing, and applauding, signs in front of hospitals, fire departments, police stations and other emergency service providers saying “Heroes work here.” And we’ve learned to say “thank you” to people serving their communities’ needs at grocery, drug and convenience stores. We’ve learned [...]
Issues
Health, Housing, Safety Net, Economic Opportunity, Coronavirus, Medicaid Expansion
Date
February 22, 2021
Author
Carol Gundlach
Report

The State of Working Alabama 2021, Section 5 – Why coverage matters: Health care in the time of COVID-19

Where are we now? While the COVID-19 pandemic has slammed all segments of Alabama’s economy and society in one way or another, the health care industry is where most of these effects converge. By the end of 2020, more than 350,000 Alabamians had tested positive or were considered likely positive for the virus, 72% of [...]
Issues
Health, Economic Opportunity, Coronavirus, Medicaid Expansion, Budgets
Date
February 22, 2021
Author
Jim Carnes
Personal Stories

‘Everything is fine, until it isn’t’

[caption id="attachment_4788" align="aligncenter" width="700"] Elizabeth works at a sewing machine in the family's home. (Photo courtesy of Geoff)[/caption] Part 1: A hard winter ahead Winter has been a long time coming for Geoff* and his wife, Elizabeth*. He didn’t think he could actually feel more anxious than he had since March, when he and his [...]
Issues
Coronavirus, Medicaid Expansion
Date
December 18, 2020
Author
Whit Sides
Report

Medicaid Matters: Charting the Course to a Healthier Alabama

Introduction ALABAMA MEDICAID supports the health care system that serves us all. Whether you have employer health coverage, a private plan, public insurance like Medicaid or Medicare, or no coverage at all, you will likely benefit at some point from facilities and services that Medicaid makes possible. More than a million Alabamians — mostly children [...]
Issues
Health, Medicaid Expansion
Date
June 17, 2020
Author
Alabama Arise