Medicaid expansion debate comes to Decatur
"The first thing I do as governor would be signing an executive order expanding Medicaid," Maddox said Tuesday afternoon at a campaign stop in
"(Medicaid expansion) would provide 330,000 Alabamians, mostly working or veterans, the opportunity to health insurance," he said.
It's a move Republican Gov.
Right now, Medicaid covers about 1 million people in
Under the Affordable Care Act, Medicaid eligibility is extended to nearly all low-income individuals with incomes at or below 138 percent of poverty, that is,
Efforts to reach Gov.
"We all want high-quality medicine at an affordable cost available to everybody," she told reporters, "but you've got to figure out how you're going to pay for it, because we've got a bare-bones budget for Medicaid now."
The federal government would pay about 90 percent of the costs of Medicaid expansion.
"How we plan to pay the 10 percent match is two-fold," Maddox said. "No. 1, we will propose to the Legislature that the payroll taxes generated from new jobs that are created from the expansion -- which is an estimated 30,000 new jobs -- would be escrowed to pay off any offset to the expansion of Medicaid."
Maddox also expects Medicaid expansion would result in savings within the existing system.
According to the
That level of savings, Maddox said, would be more than enough in
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Maddox said numerous studies show the majority of the more than 30 states that have expanded Medicaid have been able to cover their local match through the growth in their economies and savings in their existing Medicaid systems.
According to Maddox, in the first six years, Medicaid expansion would add
"It will also stabilize
According to
The hospital association recently launched a campaign, called ALhealthmatters, supporting Medicaid expansion.
"If all things stay the same with our uninsured population, we can easily see hospitals having to lay off employees and discontinue services, and we will probably see more hospitals close," Howard said.
A growing number of working Alabamians do not have health insurance because they can't afford it through their employers' plans or they're not eligible for it, she said.
"That's exactly what Medicaid expansion would help resolve," she said.
"On average, almost one out of every 10 patients that come into (
Howard said 74 percent of all
Ivey recently announced the federal government has approved a new statewide care-management program to enhance the current system of long-term care services provided to about 23,000 Alabama Medicaid recipients.
The Integrated Care Network program is for Medicaid recipients who live in a nursing facility or receive services in their homes through Medicaid's Elderly and Disabled waiver or the Alabama Community Transition waiver.
"We will continue to work with (
[email protected] or 256-340-2438. Twitter @DD_MAccardi.
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