BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WBRC) – Alabama has secured more than $203 million in federal funding to address a healthcare access crisis that leaves as many as 200,000 residents without adequate insurance coverage, according to the Cover Alabama Coalition Savings Report.
Those residents earn too much to qualify for Medicaid but not enough to afford marketplace insurance — a gap that advocates say forces people to forgo preventive care and face mounting medical debt.
“Whether or not we are able to afford meals this month versus picking up prescriptions that we need. It is a situation that none of us want to be in,” said Jennifer Harris with Alabama Arise.
Providers feel the strain
Independent clinics in Birmingham are also navigating the pressure. Dr. Kre Johnson, owner of Brownstone Healthcare and Aesthetics, is expanding the insurance coverage her practice accepts — adding Blue Cross and Medicare patients while maintaining a direct primary care option for uninsured and underinsured patients…