Alabama health insurance

---

status report:
Alabama state health insurance exchange

What progress is being made in setting up its federally-mandated Alabama state health insurance exchange?"

About state health insurance exchanges

---

How did Alabama officials vote on health reform?

H.R.2: Repealing the Health Care Bill

#14

Date of Vote: 1/19/2011 Status: House passed 245-189, 1 not voting

HOUSE|SENATE

1/19/2011--Passed House amended. Repealing the Job-Killing Health Care Law Act - Repeals the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, effective as of its enactment. Restores provisions of law amended by such Act. Repeals the health care provisions of the Health Care and Education and Reconciliation Act of 2010, effective as of the Act's enactment. Restores provisions of law amended by the Act's health care provisions. [more]

Yes (6)

• Robert Aderholt
• Spencer Bachus

• Jo Bonner
• Mo Brooks

• Martha Roby
• Michael Rogers

Our
Pick

No (1)

• Terri Sewell

how healthy is living in Alabama?

Alabama climbed three spots in the United Health Foundation's 2010 survey of the healthiest states to live in, coming in at number 45.

The good news:

• The rate of preventable hospitalizations fell from 89.7 percent to 86.2 percent per 1,000 Medicare enrollees.
• Smoking in Alabama is on the decline, falling from 24.9 percent to 22.5 percent of the population over the past five years.
• Alabama was praised for having a low prevalence of binge drinking, high immunization coverage and high public health funding.

The bad news:

• The rate of Alabama's uninsured increased from 2009 to 14.4 percent
• The prevalence of obesity has climbed from 12.3 percent to 31.6 percent of Alabama's population since 1990.
• Challenges include a high prevalence of smoking and obesity, and high rates of deaths from cardiovascular disease and infant mortality.

Alabama's best and worst category rankings:

• Prevalence of binge drinking (11.3 percent) – 5th
• Children (under 18) in poverty – 46th
• Poor physical health days – 47th
• Premature death – 48th
• Infant mortality – 48th
• Poor mental health days – 48th
• Cardiovascular deaths – 49th

more details

• See the United Health Foundation's latest findings on Alabama.
• Trust for America's Health ia another source for key Alabama health quality findings. In addition, 2010's federal health reform, the Affordable Care Act (ACA), included the creation of a prevention fund to provide more than $16 billion over the next 10 years to invest in effective, proven prevention efforts, like childhood obesity prevention and tobacco cessation, and the site has a report on how it impacts Alabama here.

get local health results

State snapshot too large? Get county-by-county health rankings for Alabama, from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Population Health Institute at the University of Wisconsin.

does Alabama have a health insurance high risk pool?

Alabama Health Insurance Plan
Toll-free 1-800-513-1384 or (334) 353-8924

IMPORTANT UPDATE: Starting in 2010, Alabama started offering health care insurance coverage to residents through the federally established temporary high-risk pool program. To find out more about Alabama's participation, click here.

Risk pools are state-sponsored programs to help people with a history of medical problems in their family to purchase coverage. These pools are for people who can afford to buy health insurance, but are not able to get underwritten in the private market because of a pre-existing health condition. These programs can vary significantly from state to state in price, benefits and number of people served. Often insurance companies doing business in the state are required to contribute to the pool to keep it in the black. In the best cases, they allow people to be able to switch jobs or become self-employed without the fear of losing their health insurance coverage. Read more about risk pools here.

how to find health insurance in Alabama

Cover The Uninsured is a national effort to highlight the fact that too many Americans are living without health insurance and to demand solutions from our nation's leaders. Read more information on its efforts. It is a project of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

• Cover The Uninsured's facts on the uninsured in Alabama and all other states.
• The Foundation for Health Coverage Education's guide on how to find health insurance in Alabama.
• Materiales En Español – Guías para encontrar cobertura de seguro de salud.

Georgetown's Alabama health insurance guide

Georgetown University's Health Policy Institute has researched and written state-by-state guides for finding and keeping health insurance. It updates these guides as federal and state policies change. A number of non-profit organizations help fund its research. Learn more about the Health Policy Institute.

Review Georgetown's guide for Alabama.

Health insurance plan report cards for Alabama

The National Committee for Quality Assurance is a private, non-profit organization that, among other things, provides health care plan report cards for consumers.

Go here to search for Alabama health insurance plan report cards.

Alabama government health insurance resources

Alabama Department of Insurance, consumer page – provides regulation of the insuance industry to provide consumer protection and help maintain market stability.

All Kids – the state's SCHIP program to provide low-cost, comprehensive health insurance for children 18 years and younger.

Alabama Department of Senior Services – Medicare resources (state health insurance assistance program) and more for Alabama's older population.

Alabama Medicaid Agency – The state/federal program that pays for medical and long-term care services for low-income pregnant women, children, certain people on Medicare, disabled individuals and nursing home residents – has income and other requirements.