Have you heard the news yet?! Yesterday, North Carolina became the fortieth state to expand Medicaid! Under a Republican-led legislature, state legislators came together to pass Medicaid expansion legislation, which the governor signed into law yesterday afternoon. 

North Carolina’s legislation will provide health coverage as early as January 2024 for nearly 600,000 people who were previously in that state’s coverage gap. An estimated 2.9 million enrollees already have traditional Medicaid coverage in North Carolina.

With only 10 states left that have yet to expand Medicaid, it’s time for our elected officials to acknowledge what the majority of states already recognize: we can’t afford not to expand Medicaid! Like North Carolina’s Senate Leader and Republican-led legislature, we are hoping that Alabama’s elected officials will be similarly enlightened and join fellow southern states that have elected to expand Medicaid. 

Like North Carolina leaders realized, we know that Medicaid expansion is an investment in our future. Medicaid expansion would be good for our workforce. The majority of people that would benefit from expansion are working. 72% or the vast majority of Alabamians (including 66% of Republicans) support Medicaid expansion. We also know what could happen if our leaders don’t act now and expand Medicaid soon: up to sixteen of our rural hospitals may close this year - a fate that will only further compromise our state’s health care delivery system.

Help us convince elected officials to do the right thing for our workforce, economy, and state. Also, help us inform Alabama’s state legislators of this monumental news from a fellow southern state and urge them to follow suit!