Health
No one should have to go without the medical care they need simply because they can’t afford it. Investments in Medicaid, ALL Kids, mental health care and other health services help Alabamians stay healthy and productive, and they lay the foundation for a future where all of our residents have a chance to thrive, regardless of their income or background.
Arise works to identify and eliminate the structural barriers that prevent many of our friends and neighbors across the state from accessing the health care they need. We examine how a variety of policy solutions, including Medicaid expansion, would help break down those walls and strengthen the health care infrastructure on which all Alabamians rely.
Featured Resources
Letters & Testimony
Alabama Arise testimony in opposition to SNAP food choice limits
Alabama Arise hunger policy advocate LaTrell Clifford Wood testified Wednesday before the House Ways and Means General Fund Committee in opposition to SB 57 by Sen. Arthur Orr, R-Decatur. SB 57 would restrict which foods can be bought in Alabama with food assistance benefits under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Here is the full [...]
Fact Sheet
2026 Legislative Day – Close the health coverage gap: Enact policies to save lives in Alabama
No one should have to choose between going to the doctor and putting food on the table. But for more than a decade, Alabama lawmakers have turned down the opportunity to expand Medicaid to cover adults with low incomes. This choice has cost lives, weakened our health care system and left billions of federal dollars [...]
Fact Sheet
How the so-called One Big Beautiful Bill Act worsens health and hunger in Alabama communities
HR 1, the so-called One Big Beautiful Bill Act, was signed into law on July 4, 2025. This federal law will have far-reaching consequences on many issues affecting people in our communities. Following are a few talking points focused on how HR 1 will impact health and hunger for people in Alabama. Health Did not [...]
Fact Sheet
Closing the health coverage gap: Alabama must enact policies to save lives
Haga clic aquí para leer esto en español. By Jennifer Harris, senior health policy advocate, and Debbie Smith, Cover Alabama campaign director As Alabama enters the 2026 legislative session, Medicaid expansion and maternal health will be central to the state’s health equity conversations. Recent federal policy changes have made these conversations more urgent and more [...]
Resources
Building on our momentum for the new year
As we close out 2025, Arise members and member organizations can reflect on a very successful year. Reducing the state sales tax on groceries from 3% to 2% and guaranteeing more students in public schools get a free breakfast with a $7.3 million budget appropriation were two of the biggest highlights worth celebrating. Improvements were [...]
Resources
Las prioridades legislativas de Alabama Arise para 2026
Más de 150 grupos miembros de Alabama Arise y más de 1,500 miembros individuales eligen todos los años nuestras prioridades legislativas. Este proceso garantiza que los habitantes de Alabama más afectados por la pobreza participen de las decisiones. A continuación se enumeran las prioridades que nuestros miembros eligieron para 2025. Para obtener una versión de este [...]
Member Resources
Alabama Arise 2026 legislative priorities
More than 150 Alabama Arise member groups and nearly 2,000 individual members choose our legislative priorities each year. This process ensures that Alabamians most impacted by poverty have a seat at the table. Below are the priorities that our members selected for 2026. For a PDF version of this document, click here or click the [...]
Personal Stories
‘I will leave this world better than I found it’
Angel’s experiences have forged her into a fierce advocate of programs that have allowed her not just to have daily necessities, but also to maintain a high level of independence.
Fact Sheet
Alabamians’ health care costs will soar in 2026 if Congress doesn’t act now
The clock is ticking: Enhanced Marketplace subsidies expire this year! The enhanced Advance Premium Tax Credits (APTCs) that have made health insurance more affordable for hundreds of thousands of Alabamians are set to expire at the end of 2025. If Congress doesn’t act now, premiums for families, small business owners and people who buy their [...]
Fact Sheet
What we know about the SNAP changes in the new federal budget law
The federal One Big Beautiful Bill Act does not immediately cut or end food assistance benefits for people who now receive them. People who are now getting food assistance under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) should continue receiving their monthly benefits normally for the foreseeable future, just as they have in the past. But [...]
