For anyone holding out hope that Republicans in the state legislature would come around on so-called Medicaid expansion as a solution to any perceived rural health care woes, you may want to consider other policy options.

During an appearance on Huntsville radio WVNN’s “The Jeff Poor Show,” Senate Pro Tem Del Marsh (R-Anniston) dismissed the expansion of Medicaid rolls in Alabama as an option in the near term. However, he said there other options that could be offered.

“There’s no appetite whatsoever for any kind of Medicaid expansion,” Marsh said. “I can tell you that. I know the Democrats are rallying around that. I can tell you the Republicans are not for expanding Medicaid.”

“Now, the rural health care issue – we’ve had meetings,” he continued. “We’ve had meetings on rural hospitals. We’ll continue to work with the hospital administration and association to talk about possible solutions, some of which – maybe it’s not a hospital, maybe it’s an EMA facility that gets people quick to a hospital in another adjoining county. There are things we’ve got to look at, but it won’t be Medicaid expansion.”

Marsh also questioned the notion that the solution to rural health care offerings was hospitals in all 67 counties.

“I don’t know how big this problem really is,” he added. “A lot of times when I get in the topic of rural health care, it’s not about health care. It’s about jobs. In some cases, in rural areas – hospitals are the biggest employer. But to me, number one, health care is health care. Do you really need it there? Is it providing a service in that area? If it doesn’t make sense, and quite honestly, I don’t think we need to have a hospital in every county. We’ve got to be fiscally responsible. If they don’t have a hospital, make sure they have quick access to a hospital through EMA or other entities we can work on to provide health care.”

@Jeff_Poor is a graduate of Auburn University, the editor of Breitbart TV and host of “The Jeff Poor Show” from 2-5 p.m. on WVNN in Huntsville.