MM Curator summary
[MM Curator Summary]: Maddox says Medicaid expansion is needed now more than ever in order to help pay for all the new births that will happen after the Dobbs v Jackson decision.
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Walt Maddox concedes defeat to Gov. Kay Ivey in the Alabama Governor’s race Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2018.
Tuscaloosa Mayor Walt Maddox took to Twitter this weekend in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s overturning of abortion rights to say now is the time for Alabama to expand Medicaid coverage to address pre-natal care and the state’s poor infant mortality rates.
“With yesterday’s decision by #SCOTUS reversing #RoeVsWade, #Alabama‘s 3rd World ratings in pre-natal care and infant mortality MUST be addressed by #MedicaidExpanaion,” Maddox stated in a tweet on Saturday.
Medicaid expansion, he said in a follow-up tweet, “would make quantum leaps for Alabama’s ability to ensure healthy pregnancies and births. The time must be now.”
Medicaid is a joint federal and state program that, together with the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), provides health coverage to children, pregnant women, parents, seniors, and individuals with disabilities, according to the Medicaid.gov website. About 1 million people in Alabama are covered by one or more of Medicaid’s programs.
Expanding Medicaid was one of the priorities Maddox had during his 2018 run for governor in Alabama. He won the Democratic nomination but lost to Republican Gov. Kay Ivey in the General Election that year. Maddox is currently serving in his fifth term as Tuscaloosa’s mayor.
“Spent 18 months crisscrossing this state warning this day was coming and the consequences would be far reaching and more complicated than the talking points. Now, that states are in control, #Medicaid Expansion is the best chance in the next 24 to 48 months. #pragmatic,” Maddox stated in another tweet.
Ivey and other Republican leaders have repeatedly said that while ensuring every Alabamian has access to quality health care is important, the problem is how to pay for it. Alabama is one of about a dozen states that have declined to expand Medicaid with the federal government paying most of the cost as allowed under the Affordable Care Act.
This spring the Alabama Legislature provided $4 million in the 2022-23 budget to extend Medicaid coverage for pregnant patients for a year after giving birth under the state’s new budget. The coverage had ended after 60 days. The extension, however, could be temporary because legislators gave the Medicaid Agency the task of reviewing costs, use of the services, and health outcomes to determine if it will continue.
With yesterday’s decision by #SCOTUS reversing #RoeVsWade, #Alabama‘s 3rd World ratings in pre-natal care and infant mortality MUST be addressed by #MedicaidExpanaion (1/2)
— Walt Maddox (@WaltMaddox) June 25, 2022
Clipped from: https://www.al.com/news/2022/06/tuscaloosa-mayor-walt-maddox-expand-medicaid-for-alabama-in-wake-of-roe-v-wade-decision.html