Official Statement on the Medicaid Funding Crisis

May 5, 2016 – Alabama’s physicians are urging our state lawmakers and Gov. Bentley to start now to find a permanent revenue solution to fully fund Alabama Medicaid before the next fiscal year.

“Alabama already runs the most bare-bones Medicaid program in the country,” said Medical Association Executive Director Mark Jackson, “so to end this legislative session without an appropriate funding solution is more than heartbreaking. It’s dangerous. In just five months, one-quarter of our state’s population will be at risk of losing their access to health care because of the legislature’s inability to come to an agreement on funding options that would have helped close the $85 million gap in Medicaid’s budget. More than half the births in Alabama and 47 percent of our children are covered by Medicaid, as well as 60 percent of Alabama’s nursing home residents. Without full funding, the Medicaid program will collapse, leaving these individuals without coverage. We are asking Gov. Bentley and our legislators begin work today to find a permanent funding plan to secure Medicaid and reassure our residents that the medical care they need will remain within their grasp. The Medical Association remains ready to work with our elected officials to find a permanent solution to the Medicaid funding crisis.”

The Medical Association believes Alabama Medicaid is more than an insurance program for the poor and underinsured and must be fully funded as it is critical to the health care infrastructure of our state. Alabama Medicaid provides health coverage for eligible children, pregnant women, and severely disabled and impoverished adults – about 1 million Alabamians.

Alabama’s physicians strongly believe that Medicaid matters … to all Alabamians.