Category: News Releases

Now is the time to repair, not repeal, the Affordable Care Act

By Chris Sanders

Arise Citizens’ Policy Project executive director Kimble Forrister issued the following statement Tuesday, July 18, 2017, in response to the collapse of U.S. Senate efforts to “repeal and replace” the Affordable Care Act:

“The defeat of the Senate’s awful health care bill was a victory for Alabama families. This cruel plan would have gutted Medicaid, which provides essential health coverage for children, seniors, and people with disabilities in every corner of our state, to pay for huge tax cuts for rich people and big corporations. It would have hammered rural hospitals and nursing homes while sending insurance costs soaring for many older Alabamians. And it would have sent us back to the bad old days of limiting benefits and discriminating against folks with pre-existing conditions.

“Powerful advocacy from everyday people across Alabama and across the country stopped the bad Senate bill in its tracks. We urge senators to stop trying to repeal the Affordable Care Act and start trying to make it work better for everyone. Our lawmakers should work together in an open, thoughtful, bipartisan way to strengthen the ACA, reduce insurance costs and extend quality, affordable health care to all Americans.”

U.S. Senate health care bill would be bad for Alabama

By Chris Sanders

Arise Citizens’ Policy Project executive director Kimble Forrister issued the following statement Thursday, June 22, 2017, in response to the release of the U.S. Senate’s proposed health care bill:

“The Senate bill would be devastating for children, seniors, working families, and people with disabilities across Alabama. This mean-spirited plan would slash Medicaid and force millions of low- and middle-income Americans to pay more for insurance that covers less.
“Rural communities, older people, and folks with pre-existing conditions would suffer under the Senate plan, all for the sake of a massive tax cut for big corporations and wealthy households. The Senate bill is bad for Alabama and bad for America, and it deserves a swift defeat.”

U.S. Senate should protect Americans’ health care by rejecting House’s reckless ‘repeal and replace’ plan

By Chris Sanders

Arise Citizens’ Policy Project policy director Jim Carnes issued the following statement Thursday, May 4, 2017, in response to the U.S. House’s passage of the American Health Care Act:

“Today’s narrow U.S. House vote to repeal the Affordable Care Act in exchange for a giant tax cut for the wealthiest Americans sends a harsh message to Alabamians, but it’s not the final word. Unless the Senate rejects it, this bill would force harmful cuts to Medicaid, which covers more than 1 million children, low-income seniors, pregnant women and people with disabilities across Alabama. For everyone else, the bill would turn back the clock to a time when insurers could discriminate against people who got sick and could deny coverage for life-saving treatments by imposing annual and lifetime benefit caps.

“The Affordable Care Act has helped millions of people and saved thousands of lives across Alabama. Nearly 200,000 Alabamians have signed up for insurance through the ACA. More than 2 million Alabamians have pre-existing conditions that would have made it hard or impossible for them to get full coverage before the ACA lifted coverage caps and guaranteed their access to insurance. And the ACA has significantly reduced the number of uninsured young Alabamians by allowing 35,000 of them to remain on their parents’ plans until age 26.

“Instead of improving the current law with sensible, targeted changes, the House has voted to reverse the ACA’s gains and put our nation’s health care in peril. Alabamians have spoken out loud and clear against the House vote. It’s time to turn our voices to the Senate, where we’re counting on our senators to stand up for a healthier Alabama and stop this reckless bill in its tracks.”

End of judicial override is a win for justice in Alabama

By Chris Sanders

Arise Citizens’ Policy Project executive director Kimble Forrister issued the following statement Tuesday, April 4, 2017, after the House voted 78-19 for a bill to end Alabama’s judicial override policy, which allows judges to impose a death sentence in capital cases despite a jury’s sentencing recommendation of life in prison without the possibility of parole:

“Judicial override is about to become a thing of the past, and Alabama’s justice system will be better as a result. It’s time for our state to put the sentencing decisions in death penalty cases where they belong: in the jury’s hands. We’re happy to see such strong support in the House and Senate for ending this outdated practice, and we hope the governor will sign it into law quickly.”

Defeat of House health bill is a victory for children, seniors and families across Alabama

By Chris Sanders

Arise Citizens’ Policy Project policy director Jim Carnes issued the following statement Friday, March 24, 2017, in response to U.S. House leaders’ withdrawal of the American Health Care Act:

“The House health plan would have taken coverage away from 24 million Americans and put essential protections at risk for tens of millions more. It would have forced devastating Medicaid cuts that would have hurt children, seniors, and people with disabilities across Alabama. And it would have done all that to fund huge tax cuts for wealthy people and big corporations. It was a bad bill that deserved to die, and we’re glad it did.

“Defeating this bad bill was essential, but it was only the first step. Everyday Alabamians must keep up the pressure on lawmakers to strengthen the Affordable Care Act and make quality health coverage a reality for everyone. We urge Gov. Robert Bentley to expand Medicaid immediately to ensure that low-wage workers and struggling families across Alabama can get the care they need to stay healthy and productive.”

Senate judicial override vote a good step to improve Alabama’s justice system

By Chris Sanders

Arise Citizens’ Policy Project executive director Kimble Forrister issued the following statement Thursday, Feb. 23, 2017, after the state Senate voted 30-1 to end Alabama’s judicial override policy, which allows judges to impose a death sentence in capital cases despite a jury’s sentencing recommendation of life in prison without the possibility of parole:

“The Senate’s vote to end judicial override in death penalty cases is a step in the right direction for Alabama’s justice system. The right to a trial by jury is a cornerstone of our justice system, and we should respect a jury’s ability to weigh the evidence for sentencing, just as we do on guilt or innocence. Alabama is the only state that still allows judicial overrides, and it’s time to join the rest of the country in making this outdated practice a thing of the past.”

‘No repeal without replacement’ is essential step to protect health care for Alabamians

By Chris Sanders

Arise Citizens’ Policy Project policy director Jim Carnes issued the following statement Thursday, Jan. 19, 2017, in response to the release of Gov. Robert Bentley’s letter to U.S. Rep. Kevin McCarthy on suggested changes to the Affordable Care Act:

“We’re glad the governor recognizes the importance of not repealing the Affordable Care Act without a replacement, and we’re glad he urged Congress to protect funding for Medicaid and ALL Kids. But it was deeply disturbing to see him raise the prospects of allowing ‘a waiting period for pre-existing conditions’ and giving states more power to ‘reduce Medicaid benefits or enrollment.’

“Alabama Medicaid already has one of the lowest income eligibility limits and one of the most limited benefit packages in the country. Slashing our state’s barebones Medicaid program even more deeply would hurt hundreds of thousands of children, seniors, and people with disabilities who live in poverty, and it would do nothing to make our state healthier or more prosperous. Neither would returning to the bad old days of allowing discrimination against people with health conditions like cancer or diabetes.

“The Affordable Care Act has helped millions of people and saved thousands of lives across Alabama. Nearly 200,000 Alabamians have signed up for insurance through the ACA. More than 2 million Alabamians have pre-existing conditions that would have made it hard or impossible for them to get full coverage before the ACA lifted coverage caps and guaranteed their access to insurance. And the ACA has significantly reduced the number of uninsured young Alabamians by allowing 35,000 of them to remain on their parents’ plans until age 26.

“The stakes are too high for Alabamians to stay silent. We urge Alabamians to continue pressuring their members of Congress to protect Medicaid and not to repeal the Affordable Care Act without an immediate replacement that offers comparable coverage and consumer protections.”

Health coverage has improved in Alabama, but work remains, new study finds

By Carol Gundlach

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 of whom lack health coverage.

“Child care, construction and food service are essential jobs that are often low-paying, and the people who do that important work deserve the protection of health insurance,” ACPP policy director Jim Carnes said. “But without an expanded Medicaid program, many working Alabamians fall into a coverage gap. They make too much to qualify for Medicaid but too little to be eligible for affordable coverage through the Health Care Marketplace.”

Key findings from the report include:

  • Nearly one in seven Alabamians lacked health insurance in 2013.
  • Alabama’s lower rate of uninsured residents was slightly lower than the national average, almost exclusively as a result of the state’s success in providing Medicaid and ALL Kids to low- and moderate-income children.
  • The share of working-age adults without health insurance was almost identical in Alabama and the nation, while the rate of young uninsured adults exceeded the national rate.
  • Nearly 100,000 Alabamians signed up for Marketplace health coverage in 2014, topping the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ enrollment goal for the state. Open enrollment for 2015 Marketplace coverage began Nov. 15 and continues until Feb. 15, 2015.
  • More than 600,000 people in Alabama remain without insurance. Up to 342,000 of them could gain coverage under an expanded Medicaid program.

“We encourage anyone who doesn’t have health insurance to visit healthcare.gov and learn about their options,” Carnes said. “The Marketplace makes affordable coverage available for tens of thousands of Alabamians. Closing the coverage gap would insure hundreds of thousands more. It’s time for our state to take this important step toward a healthier, more secure Alabama for all.”

Alabama’s growing income gap is bad for its economy, report concludes

By Carol Gundlach

The widening income gap between the richest Alabamians and everyone else is reducing consumer spending and hurting the state’s economy, according to a new ACPP report released today as part of The State of Working Alabama 2014. Alabama is among the top half of states for the severity of its income inequality, and its income gap is increasing at one of the highest rates in the nation.

“People whose hard work and talent make our lives better deserve to be rewarded for their efforts,” ACPP executive director Kimble Forrister said. “But when income inequality becomes extreme, it hurts the economy and endangers our future.”

Key findings from the report include:

  • Between 1979 and 2007, the top 1 percent of Alabamians saw income growth of 158.8 percent, while the incomes of everyone else grew on average by only 20.5 percent.
  • Between 2009 and 2011, all income growth in Alabama accrued to the richest 1 percent of the state’s population.
  • Between 2008 and 2012, the top fifth of Alabamians held more than half of the state’s total income, and the top 5 percent alone held 21.4 percent.

In 22 Alabama counties, the share of income held by the top 5 percent exceeded the state average. In six of those – Clarke, Conecuh, Jefferson, Lamar, Lowndes and Randolph – that share topped 24 percent.

Numerous state policies could reduce the worst effects of Alabama’s growing income inequality, Forrister said. Ending the state sales tax on groceries and replacing the revenue responsibly would help families make their paychecks go further, he said, as would closing the health coverage gap by expanding Medicaid to cover nearly 185,000 uninsured Alabama workers.

“Alabama should adopt policies that help everyone share in the benefits of economic growth,” Forrister said. “By investing now in education, transportation, affordable housing and other vital infrastructure, Alabama can pave the way for broadly shared prosperity for decades to come.”

Many Alabama Workers Have Little to Celebrate This Labor Day

By Carol Gundlach

This Labor Day will be a difficult one for many Alabama workers, according to a new ACPP report released today as part of The State of Working Alabama 2014. Unemployment remains high. Jobs have disappeared. Wages are stagnant. The wealth gap between the rich and everyone else has grown.

And trends in unemployment, job loss, wages and income inequality all suggest that the state will continue to feel the Great Recession’s effects for years to come.

Among the report’s key findings:

  • Alabama’s unemployment rate remained among the nation’s highest at 7 percent in July 2014. Alabama is the only state whose unemployment rate is higher than it was in July 2013.
  • Alabama has lost 5 percent of its non-farm jobs since 2007, more than 16 times worse than the national job loss rate of 0.3 percent. The losses have been particularly severe among construction jobs. Job losses from 2007 to 2011 topped 20 percent in some rural counties.
  • Wages are stagnant. Alabama workers have seen a real wage increase of only 4 percent in the last decade, adjusted for inflation.
  • Wage stagnation has fueled a dramatic increase in income inequality in Alabama, measured by the income gap between the very rich and the rest of the population. Between 2009 and 2011, the income of the richest 1 percent in Alabama increased by 4.3 percent while the average incomes of the rest fell by 2.9 percent. Alabama is in the top half of all states for income inequality, and its rate of increased inequality is one of the nation’s highest.

The report reveals, in stark terms, the systemic challenges that Alabama’s workers face as they strive to climb the economic ladder, ACPP executive director Kimble Forrister said. But he said the state can act now to reduce those barriers and to build a stronger foundation for future growth. “Investing in Alabama today will make it easier for more of our people to achieve the American dream tomorrow,” Forrister said. “Our leaders can and should create more high-paying jobs by expanding Medicaid, investing in infrastructure and supporting workers still struggling to recover from the recession.”