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Alabama Arise needs your voice now more than ever!
You can have a bigger impact when you unite your voice with thousands of other Alabamians who want to make our state a better place. Please become an Alabama Arise member today. We’re working to improve state policies and remove barriers to opportunity for Alabamians with low incomes. Here are just a few of the [...]
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As education revenues fall, it’s time to strengthen Alabama’s tax system
It’s a truism often heard during budget hearings at the Alabama State House: “All the growth taxes go to education.” Legislators commonly say this to bemoan relatively flat revenue for the General Fund (GF), even when the economy is booming. Meanwhile, the Education Trust Fund (ETF) budget grows by comparative leaps and bounds. There is [...]
News Releases
69,000 Alabama workers lost coverage when they may need it most, new report finds
Job losses during the COVID-19 economic crash kicked 69,000 Alabamians off their health insurance between February and May, according to a new report by Families USA, a nonprofit research organization based in Washington, D.C. Those coverage losses increased Alabama’s uninsured rate for non-elderly adults to 19%, the report finds. That is the ninth highest rate [...]
Blog
Risk of education, General Fund cuts remains after shortened Alabama legislative session
Funding for education, health care and other vital services is deeply uncertain as Alabama’s revenues plummet during the COVID-19 recession. In May, lawmakers enacted 2021 Education Trust Fund (ETF) and General Fund (GF) budgets that are larger than this year’s. But as consumer spending falls and massive unemployment persists, the Legislature will reevaluate those plans [...]
Newsletter
June 2020 newsletter
Alabama must tear down the legacies of slavery and segregation By Chris Sanders, communications director In Birmingham, Mobile and cities across the country, officials are taking down monuments that “honored” a violent rebellion that sought to protect the enslavement of human beings. Removing these symbols of slavery and segregation is an important step toward healing [...]
Report
Medicaid Matters: Charting the Course to a Healthier Alabama
Introduction ALABAMA MEDICAID supports the health care system that serves us all. Whether you have employer health coverage, a private plan, public insurance like Medicaid or Medicare, or no coverage at all, you will likely benefit at some point from facilities and services that Medicaid makes possible. More than a million Alabamians — mostly children [...]
Report
Medicaid Matters – Section 1: How does Medicaid work in Alabama?
MEDICAID BASICS What you need to know … [caption id="attachment_4117" align="alignright" width="189"] (Photo: #IamMedicaid)[/caption] Medicaid is a joint federal/state program providing health coverage for certain categories of people with low incomes and limited resources. More than 1.2 million Alabamians qualify for Medicaid coverage. Medicaid payments support doctors’ offices, hospitals, clinics and nursing homes that serve [...]
Report
Medicaid Matters – Section 2: How is Medicaid improving coverage?
MEDICAID IMPROVEMENTS What you need to know... [caption id="attachment_4180" align="alignright" width="225"] (Photo: #IamMedicaid)[/caption] New Medicaid changes seek to improve health and cut costs by rewarding timely and preventive care. The statewide Integrated Care Network (ICN) is coordinating long-term care for about 23,000 Alabamians. Seven regional Alabama Coordinated Health Networks (ACHNs) are coordinating primary and specialty [...]
Report
Medicaid Matters – Section 3: Who’s still left out of health coverage?
MEDICAID COVERAGE GAP What you need to know ... [caption id="attachment_4207" align="alignright" width="300"] (Photo: Courtesy of Audrey Trippe)[/caption] More than 220,000 Alabamians are caught in the state’s health coverage gap, earning too much to qualify for Medicaid and too little to afford private insurance. Another 120,000 Alabamians are stretching to pay for coverage they can’t [...]
Report
Medicaid Matters – Section 4: How can we make Alabama healthier?
MEDICAID EXPANSION What you need to know ... [caption id="attachment_4220" align="alignright" width="225"] (Photo: #IamMedicaid)[/caption] Medicaid expansion would help hundreds of thousands of Alabamians get the health care they need. States that have expanded Medicaid have seen improvements in infant and maternal mortality and greater access to treatment for mental illness and substance use disorders. Extending [...]