February 2023 Group Watch: Senator Orr Calls Hopes for Medicaid Expansion “Crazy”
Hospital margins in Alabama have dropped 79 percent since the start of the pandemic, according to a study by Kaufman Hall, a national healthcare and higher education consulting firm. As a result, some hospital leaders are calling on the legislature to pass some kind of Medicaid expansion this session. State Senator Arthur Orr, who chairs a senate appropriations committee, said he doesn’t believe there is any will to pass a Medicaid expansion this year. Orr said the estimated $200-$300-million-a-year price tag is likely the biggest hurdle to passing an expansion. He went on to say that while the general fund budget is in good shape now, that could always change and legislators don’t have the “appetite” to take on the additional cost or add to the state’s dependency on federal dollars.
