To: Governor Kay Ivey

Governor Bentley; Expand Medicaid, set up exchange.

Gov. Bentley, implement Medicaid expansion and set up health care exchange.

Why is this important?

Gov. Bentley says Alabama won't set up exchange, won't expand Medicaid. As a physician myself working in Alabama I see firsthand what poverty and lack of insurance can lead to. We need this. This expanded insurance coverage will save lives and eventually save the state money.
 The Affordable Care Act requires that almost all individuals have health insurance by 2014 or face a fine – this was upheld by the Supreme Court in 2012.
 However, the Supreme Court ruling allows states to choose whether or not to expand their Medicaid programs to cover individuals at 138% of the FPL by 2014.
 States or the federal government will develop and implement health insurance exchanges in the states so that consumers can more easily compare health plans.
 Medicaid Cost-Sharing models will change under the new eligibility programs.
 If all 50 states implemented the Medicaid expansion, it would cover an additional
21.6 million of the 41.2 million currently uninsured adults (or 52%).
 The additional cost of implementing the Medicaid expansion is estimated to be only a
2.8 percent increase from what states would have spent between 2014 and 2022 without the health reform law. However, this number is significantly overstated, as CBO’s calculations do not factor in the savings that state and local governments will realize in their health care spending for the uninsured