AL HR310

Urges Governor Kay Ivey to expand Medicaid in Alabama under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to enhance access to health care, promote revenue and economic activity, and create jobs.

Estimates that Medicaid expansion would provide low-cost health insurance to approximately 185,000 working Alabamians and generate $1.7 billion per year in new revenue for state health care providers and $1.2 billion in new income to the state's economy.

Identifies that a coverage gap leaves hundreds of thousands of Alabamians without health insurance and places the state's health care infrastructure in financial jeopardy, with five rural hospitals having closed since 2011 and 45 percent of remaining rural hospitals operating at a loss.

Notes that approximately 18,000 uninsured Alabama veterans and their spouses could gain Medicaid coverage if the state closed the coverage gap, as they are denied coverage available in other states.

Expresses the intent of Democratic members of the Legislature, representing the position that the Alabama Health Care Improvement Task Force determined Medicaid expansion is a cost-effective investment that the state cannot afford to pass up.