Alabama lawmakers pass healthcare law for pregnant women in rare bipartisan team-up

Due to limited access to healthcare, economic struggle, and various other factors, Alabama’s infant mortality rate is appallingly high. In fact, infant mortality has been a troubling issue throughout the American South in recent years. In spite of enhanced political division in the United States, Alabama lawmakers from the left and right side of the aisle came together and unanimously passed a bill that offers pregnant mothers expedited access to Medicaid, with the bill currently awaiting Governor Kay Ivey’s signature. Both the left and the right had the same goal, with the only difference being messaging.

According to a 2024 March of Dimes report, nearly one in five pregnant women in the state didn’t receive prenatal care until they were five months into their pregnancy. On top of that, less than half of expecting mothers were able to afford the appropriate number of recommended visits to their physicians during their pregnancy. Alabama also had nearly double the national maternal mortality rate as well.

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One of the factors involved in the lack of healthcare access and affordability, is that reportedly one in six women in Alabama have an income that falls between the “coverage gap,” meaning that they make too much money to qualify for Medicaid but they have too little of an income to afford private health insurance. This bipartisan bill will expand on Medicaid services for pregnant mothers and would offer "presumptive eligibility” so Medicaid will pay for a pregnant woman’s outpatient care for up to 60 days while reviewing their application.

Both Republicans and Democrats in the state saw this problem from different perspectives. The right-wing lawmakers saw this bill as a pro-life measure for their constituents. The left saw this as a way to help low-income families survive and get treatment. While their reasoning was different, they wanted the same result: better chances for Alabama mothers and their babies to survive pregnancy. While it is certain that there will be disagreements and amendments proposed once the bill is signed into law, the fact is that what got the bill passed was finding a solution that benefitted the whole without letting their political philosophies get in the way.

The bill itself was worth backing in the eyes of the politicians involved in conceiving it, but the difference in getting both Republican and Democrat teams to back it had little to do with anything but the “packaging.” Framing the bill as a way to save and promote American families, along with it endorsing a pro-life message, made it appealing to conservative Christian lawmakers on the right. The left-of-centrist Democrats would see this law as an opening to further expand Medicaid on a wider scale, reaching toward that overall goal by a few more inches. For everyone else, it was “common sense.”

This “common sense” mindset was what sparked a bipartisan free school lunch bill to be introduced in Ohio earlier this year. It has helped measures gain bipartisan support to strengthen gun laws and veterans benefits in other states. One can find it refreshing that while there will be debates, arguments, and anger regarding the “how” to solve problems, some leaders can find alternative framings to come to a collective consensus on a solution.

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