MONTGOMERY, Ala. — The Alabama House Wednesday evening approved a General Fund budget cutting $156 million from Medicaid.
After an initial vote of 45-46, a second vote flipped enough members to provide an outcome of 46-44. Every yes vote was made by a Republican member. Sixteen Republicans joined with every Democrat to vote against the proposal.
During a tense House Ways and Means-General Fund Committee meeting Tuesday, chairman Steve Clouse (R-Ozark), introduced the amendment to the proposed budget making cuts to the program.
Because Alabama receives $2.32 in matching federal money for every Medicaid dollar it appropriates, the move would result in a total loss of nearly $550 million—approximately ten percent of total spending on the program.
Clouse said he believes Medicaid is the “foundation of healthcare in the state,” but, “evidently there’s a lot of legislators that still question Medicaid.”
“There’s a lot of citizens around this state that are still questioning Medicaid and what it does,” he continued. “And we’ve got a decision to make in this state.”
As the largest single program in the General Fund, Medicaid has grown rapidly in recent years to have the second largest appropriations in the state, after education.
“We’ve got some serious issues with provider taxes that nursing homes pay and hospital pay, they all need to come to the table,” Clouse said after the vote. “We’ve got to find a solution to this Medicaid budget that’s growing out of control.”
Senate leadership is already expressing doubt that the bill will make it out of the upper body with the Medicaid cuts intact.
Senate President Pro Tem Del Marsh (R-Anniston) said the cut was “very unlikely.”
“That will never happen up here,” said Sen. Gerald Dial (R-Lineville). “We will go home without a budget before we do that.”
The House vote came after several hours of intense debate, during which many members protested the Medicaid cuts, but Rep. Clouse said that while he doesn’t want to see the program be cut, he is glad the discussion is happening.
“I thought the debate was good today,” he said. “I thought it was time to have this debate on Medicaid that has been the central issue in the General Fund budget now for the past seven or eight years.”
Because the House didn’t approve the bill before the Senate ended accepting new legislation this afternoon, the measure will not be voted on in the upper body until Friday at the earliest.
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— Elizabeth BeShears (@LizEBeesh) January 21, 2015
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