AL Political Reporter: “An updated report shows that a third of COVID-19 deaths in Alabama were associated with high community rates of uninsured, while a separate report shows that Black Alabamians and women make up a disproportionate percentage of low-wage workers without health insurance.
Alabama is one of 12 states that has not expanded Medicaid, and if the state were to do so, approximately 204,000 more, or nearly half of the state’s total uninsured, would gain health insurance, studies have estimated.
Families USA, a Washington D.C.-based health advocacy nonprofit, updated the organization’s The Catastrophic Cost of Uninsurance report in March, which found that each 10 percent increase in the proportion of a county’s residents who lacked health insurance was associated with a 70 percent increase in COVID-19 cases and a 48 percent increase in COVID-19 deaths.
More than 2,900 COVID-19 deaths — or 38 percent — in Alabama through Feb. 1 were associated with health insurance coverage caps, the report finds.”