Senator Doug Jones Stands with Alabama Community and Health Care Leaders to Call for Medicaid Expansion

Statement

U.S. Senator Doug Jones today led a press conference with Congresswoman Terri Sewell (AL-07) and community health care leaders to discuss his Medicaid expansion legislation, the States Achieve Medicaid Expansion (SAME) Act of 2019, and to call on leaders in Alabama to take action to expand Medicaid.

"I'm not sure that there is anything more important to the future of Alabama than the expansion of Medicaid. We're losing dollars, and we're seeing rural hospitals closing year after year, and other hospitals are struggling. This should be a non-partisan issue. Fourteen states with Republican governors have expanded Medicaid, including the state of Indiana under our Vice President, then-Governor Mike Pence," Senator Jones said.

Senator Jones continued, "Now, we have the evidence that states that expanded Medicaid had better health outcomes, and was a boon to those states' economies. We can grow the economies of those communities, and grow the economy of Alabama. We really just can't afford to let another hospital shutter its doors because of this issue.... It is a no-brainer for the state of Alabama."

WHAT COMMUNITY AND HEALTH LEADERS SAID AT THE PRESS CONFERENCE:

Congresswoman Terri Sewell (AL-07): "I want to stand with Senator Jones and these folks on the front lines to try to get Alabama to expand Medicaid. I think it's critically important that state and federal officials work together, and with this bill we have a chance to do that. I can't tell you of a more critical problem that we have in Alabama than our rural hospital situation. It's dire straits in the Black Belt. I stand with Doug Jones today, and I stand with practitioners and other officials who are just asking the state to do the right thing and expand Medicaid. I beg Governor Ivey to take a look at this bill."

Cynthia Jackson, Mayor of Grove Hill, Alabama: "My hospital is one of the hospitals that is operating in the red. I have a proud heritage of being self-sustaining and self-sufficient, however, the cost of health care is a burden that we alone can no longer bear. I'm grateful to Senator Jones for his vision to give the state of Alabama a second chance to receive full funding to expand Medicaid. The expansion of Medicaid is very important to the town of Grove Hill, and our hospital because it is one of the most vital parts of our community. We need to keep our hospital open, or people will lose their jobs and people will have to drive over 100 miles to get health care."

Glenn Sisk, CEO of Coosa Valley Medical Center and Chair of the Alabama Hospital Association's Medicaid Steering Committee: "Today, we ask for help: help for our hospitals, help for our patients, and help for our communities. Since 2014, we've chosen to walk away from billions of dollars in opportunity that would have been provided to us by the federal government. Today, we're appealing to Governor Ivey, to members of the Alabama House of Representatives, to members of the Alabama Senate, along with other leaders in our state to invest in the fragile health care infrastructure we see today. We ask that Medicaid be expanded, which will ensure access to care for some 320,000 Alabamians while provided much needed support for Alabama hospitals."

Vernon Johnson, CEO and Administrator of Dale Medical Center: "I am one of the 88 percent whose facility is operating in the red. We're bleeding, and we need help now. And that's why we are so proud to have the Senator and the Congresswoman introduce this bill. There are 37 states that have already expanded and they are using our tax dollars to fund their health care. Our tax dollars are going to other states while our hospitals are struggling to survive and not close. What would Alabama look like without our rural hospitals? I hope we don't sit around and wait and see."

Background

Medicaid is a joint federal and state insurance program that covers medical costs for eligible low-income Americans. In 2010, states were given the option to expand their Medicaid programs to cover people who earn up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level. Under this deal, the federal government would cover the full cost of the expansion for the first three years, and gradually step down to cover 90 percent permanently.

The SAME Act would ensure that any states that choose to expand Medicaid get a second chance to receive these same levels of federal funding. Under this bill, a state would receive three years of full federal funding, phasing down to a 95 percent Federal Medical Assistance Percentages (FMAP) in Year 4; a 94 percent federal contribution in Year 5; 93 percent in Year 6; and, 90 percent for each year thereafter. Alabama alone would receive $2 billion in federal dollars the first year after expansion.

Thirty-three states and the District of Columbia have already expanded eligibility for Medicaid, and three more states -- Idaho, Utah and Nebraska -- have passed ballot initiatives to expand Medicaid. Fourteen states, including Alabama, have not yet expanded their programs. In states that have failed to expand Medicaid, more than 2 million low-income adults fall into a "coverage gap," due to incomes that are too high to be eligible for Medicaid, but are too low to meet the limit that would allow them to receive tax credits to purchase affordable coverage in the health care marketplace. Without Medicaid expansion, most of these individuals are likely to remain uninsured, as they have limited access to employer coverage and frequently find the cost of unsubsidized marketplace coverage to be prohibitively expensive.

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