The kickoff to the legislative session is always a new adventure, but today will be an opening day like none other. COVID-19 has drastically altered the venue and procedures for Alabama’s legislative business in 2021. And it has shined a bright light on the urgent need for Gov. Kay Ivey to expand Medicaid to cover hundreds of thousands of struggling Alabamians. Your emails and calls will matter enormously this year. Access to the State House will be extremely limited, and access to lawmakers even moreso. Arise always presses for maximum government transparency, and this session will put that value to the test! Our staff will be monitoring most of the activities remotely — and you can, too. Get all the details about how to make your voice heard in this pandemic advocacy guide by Arise’s legislative affairs coordinator, David Stout. As lawmakers return to Montgomery, COVID-19 is shaking Alabama’s health care system. The loss of eight rural hospitals in the last decade has left us less prepared to deal with the current crisis. Compounding the pandemic stress, hundreds of thousands of Alabamians are trapped in the health coverage gap. Going without insurance puts them at medical and financial risk every day.
There is one fiscally responsible solution that will cover the uninsured, stabilize our rural hospitals and bring billions of your federal tax dollars home to Alabama. It’s called Medicaid expansion. And the projected $252 million surplus in our state’s 2022 Medicaid budget offers us a lifeline: It’s more than enough to cover the upfront cost of Medicaid expansion.
The money is there. The need is great. And the time is right. Let’s expand Medicaid in Alabama. |
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