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.

Featured Resources

Fact Sheet

Alabama needs to expand Medicaid NOW!

Medicaid is a health lifeline for one in four Alabamians and an economic engine for communities across our state. Extending Medicaid coverage to adults with low incomes would make life better for Alabamians of all races, genders and incomes. Medicaid expansion would ensure coverage for 340,000 Alabamians, including: People who work low-wage jobs and can’t [...]
Issues
Medicaid Expansion, Health
Date
February 25, 2020
Author
Alabama Arise
Fact Sheet

Why Medicaid expansion is a must for prison reform in Alabama

Against a backdrop of human tragedy, Gov. Kay Ivey’s Study Group on Criminal Justice Policy is working toward a January deadline for its recommendations to the Legislature. The U.S. Department of Justice in April issued a sobering overview of the Alabama corrections system’s numerous shortcomings. And the Montgomery Advertiser shed further light on the situation [...]
Issues
Criminal Justice, Health, Medicaid Expansion
Date
November 26, 2019
Author
Jim Carnes
Fact Sheet

Meet the working men and women caught in Alabama’s health coverage gap

As we celebrate Alabama’s workforce on Labor Day, here’s a fact that deserves special attention: More than 100,000 Alabamians are working without health insurance. They work in child care, construction, food services and other vital jobs. They’re the folks who keep things going. Yet they’re trapped in the health coverage gap. They can’t afford employer-based [...]
Issues
Medicaid Expansion, Health
Date
August 30, 2019
Author
Jim Carnes
Fact Sheet

Alabama’s prison reform solution must include Medicaid expansion

Alabama’s prison crisis is about more than overcrowding and understaffing. It’s about the generational impacts of a criminal justice system warped by racism, chronic poverty, inadequate education and poor health. The solution will require both new revenue and broad policy reform. And one essential step is to extend health coverage to uninsured Alabama adults with [...]
Issues
Budgets, Health, Medicaid Expansion
Date
May 31, 2019
Author
Jim Carnes
Fact Sheet

Removing the FIT deduction would allow Alabama to untax groceries, expand Medicaid

Alabama's federal income tax (FIT) deduction provides a huge tax break for high-income individuals – but at what cost? $719 million to be exact. The FIT deduction is one big reason Alabama's tax system is upside down. For those who earn $30,000 a year, the deduction saves them about $27 on average. But for the [...]
Issues
Tax Reform, Medicaid Expansion, Budgets, Health
Date
April 15, 2019
Author
Alabama Arise
Fact Sheet

Revenue options for Medicaid expansion

Alabama’s budget is an expression of our values. Medicaid expansion means healthier families, thriving communities and a stronger economy. Policymakers have a range of options for making this bold investment in a brighter future. Now is the time to choose. Remove the state deduction for federal income taxes (FIT) ► $719 million in new revenue [...]
Issues
Health, Medicaid Expansion
Date
March 19, 2019
Author
Jim Carnes
Fact Sheet

Medicaid expansion by the numbers

± 223,000 Alabamians are caught in the coverage gap, unable to afford health insurance. Another 120,000 or more are stretching to pay for private or employer-based coverage. 13 Alabama hospitals – including 7 rural ones – have closed since 2011. 88 percent of Alabama’s rural hospitals operate in the red. If we expand Medicaid to [...]
Issues
Health, Medicaid Expansion
Date
March 4, 2019
Author
Jim Carnes
Fact Sheet

Health security for Alabama’s working families

Hundreds of thousands of uninsured Alabamians would qualify for Medicaid if Alabama expanded eligibility to adults with incomes up to 133 percent of the federal poverty level. (That's about $15,000 a year for individuals and $31,000 a year for a family of four.) Many hard-working Alabamians have no health coverage because they earn too much to [...]
Issues
Health, Medicaid Expansion
Date
March 31, 2015
Author
Jim Carnes
Report

The State of Working Alabama 2014: Health coverage in Alabama: Where we’ve succeeded and where there’s work to do

Alabama has enjoyed great success in recent decades in ensuring that children and seniors have the health protection they need, according to a new Arise Citizens’ Policy Project report issued Tuesday as part of The State of Working Alabama 2014. But the state lags behind the nation when it comes to insuring young adults, nearly 30 percent [...]
Issues
Health, Economic Opportunity, Medicaid Expansion
Date
November 25, 2014
Author
Carol Gundlach

Issue Expert

Debbie Smith

Cover Alabama Campaign Director
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