Thank you for supporting Arise's vision for a better Alabama for all. Starting later this month, we will send weekly news updates throughout the Legislature's 2026 regular session. Arise members will receive a more robust version of these emails, including weekly video recaps and updates on key bills. If you aren't an Arise member yet, please join us today to ensure you stay in the loop!
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Alabama Political Reporter: Alabama delegation split over Affordable Care Act subsidy extension
“We’re very proud that we have increased our coverage rates because of these advanced premium tax credits. We have the highest rate of health insurance we’ve ever had in our state’s history. We’re about to lose all of that ground,” Arise’s Robyn Hyden told the Alabama Political Reporter. |
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CBS 42, Birmingham: Alabama advocates warn of local impacts from ACA expiration “The benefit of having more insured people is that we spread that risk out,” Arise’s Robyn Hyden told CBS 42 in Birmingham. “That more people are paying in. Hospitals and doctors and pediatricians are not having to absorb all of these unpaid bills. And everyone is healthier as a result.” |
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AL.com: Churches, clinics, hospitals brace for fallout as Alabamians see huge spikes in health insurance bills
“These credits expiring will have a massive impact on our state, from the economy to our health care system as a whole,” Arise's Debbie Smith told AL.com's Savannah Tryens-Fernandes. “It impacts more than just individuals.” |
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Alabama Reflector: Health care premiums to surge for Alabamians if Congress doesn’t reach ACA deal
“We have someone who reported in from DeKalb County that her current premium is $35.33 and it will go up to $343 in 2026,” Arise's Debbie Smith told the Alabama Reflector. “Almost 10 times the amount.” |
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Alabama Political Reporter: Alabama faith leaders urge Congress to extend ACA tax credits
"Our faith traditions teach us that every human life is sacred and that caring for the sick and vulnerable is a moral obligation. Access to health care is not a privilege for the wealthy. It is a matter of justice and human dignity,” more than 80 faith leaders wrote in a letter organized by Cover Alabama. |
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WBRC 6, Birmingham: Thousands of Alabamians face health insurance cost increases as tax credits expire
“Uninsured individuals, where do they go when they’re sick? They go to the emergency room. And that’s not good for anybody. The emergency room and the hospitals absorb that cost and then they pass the cost to everybody else," Arise's Debbie Smith told WBRC 6 in Birmingham. "So those of us who even have private insurance coverage through our jobs, our premiums go up because the system as a whole cost more." |
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Alabama Political Reporter: ACA subsidy debate continues as Alabamians face rising insurance costs
“It doesn’t matter what kind of health coverage you have; those uncompensated care costs ultimately go back to the consumer," Arise's Debbie Smith told the Alabama Political Reporter. |
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Alabama Daily News: Alabamians brace for higher premiums as Congress has no clear plan to extend health insurance subsidies
“I’m getting examples of people’s premiums, either doubling, tripling, in some cases, it’s 10 times the amount that it was before,” Arise's Debbie Smith told the Alabama Daily News. |
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Fox 54, Huntsville: Lapse in Affordable Care Act subsidies threatens health care coverage for hundreds of thousands in Alabama
"It's really hard when you've been paying $300 a month for health insurance to suddenly have to come up with $600 or $800 a month. That's just not affordable for most of us," Arise's Robyn Hyden told Fox 54 in Huntsville. |
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Alabama Public Radio: Progress, policy and the power of the people
"We're going to advocate to close Alabama's health coverage gap, to help hundreds of thousands of people who can't afford health insurance," Arise's Chris Sanders told Alabama Public Radio.
"We're going to keep advocating to right more of the wrongs of our state's upside-down tax system, which requires the people with the least to pay the most as a share of their income, and we're going to keep advocating to invest in public transportation and housing so everyone can have the opportunity not just to get by, but to get ahead," he said. |
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WSFA 12, Montgomery: SNAP and WIC funding remain topic of focus for Alabama Arise advocates
“These programs are not siloed,” Arise's LaTrell Clifford Wood told WSFA 12 in Montgomery. “They work together, and I hope that our legislators can work together to come to a solution where people don’t have to choose between food and health care.” |
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Marketplace: What to know about SNAP during the government shutdown
“Congress is perfectly capable of both supporting the Affordable Care Act and releasing food benefits," Arise's Carol Gundlach told Marketplace. "And so this choice between, are you going to pay more for health care or are you going to lose your food stamps, is a false choice, and we want to very strongly reject that choice.” |
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WSFA 12, Montgomery: More SNAP recipients must show proof of work to receive benefits as of December
“SNAP could cease to exist as a program in the state of Alabama if we do not allocate some of the fund matching requirements,” Arise's LaTrell Clifford Wood told WSFA 12 in Montgomery. “If there’s a focus on waste, fraud and abuse with these programs, that focus should be on large, organized crime stealing benefits from individual beneficiaries.” |
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Straight Arrow News: Saving a few bucks on groceries, losing millions in revenue: Alabama’s tax dilemma
“[Lawmakers] make the poorest pay a disproportionate amount of their income in taxes, whereas the wealthy have a much lower tax rate,” Arise's Carol Gundlach told Straight Arrow News. |
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WSFA 12, Montgomery: ‘Billionaires Eat First’ campaign launches in Montgomery
“[The One Big Beautiful Bill Act] is a bill that takes $1.5 trillion away from hard-working families, from veterans, from seniors, from children, and gives those benefits to billionaires,” Arise's Robyn Hyden told WSFA 12 in Montgomery. |
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Alabama Political Reporter: Alabama Arise launches Worker Power Campaign to advocate for labor rights statewide
“We are in a 21st-century version of the Gilded Age," Arise's Adam Keller told the Alabama Political Reporter. "Organize the South, and we can change the nation." |
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WVUA 23, Tuscaloosa: Expanded state leave policies help families thrive, say advocates
“Paid leave is good for families, workplaces and communities,” Arise’s Robyn Hyden said. “It provides the added benefit of enabling the state to better recruit and retain teachers and state employees.” |
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Alabama Arise
P.O. Box 1188, Montgomery, Alabama 36101
(334) 832-9060 · [email protected]
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