{"id":769953,"date":"2026-07-18T09:02:28","date_gmt":"2026-07-18T09:02:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/769953\/"},"modified":"2026-07-18T09:02:28","modified_gmt":"2026-07-18T09:02:28","slug":"alabama-secures-203m-to-address-healthcare-gap-affecting-200000-residents","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/769953\/","title":{"rendered":"Alabama secures $203M to address healthcare gap affecting 200,000 residents"},"content":{"rendered":"

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WBRC<\/a>) – Alabama has secured more than $203 million in federal funding to address a healthcare access crisis that leaves as many as 200,000 residents without adequate insurance coverage, according to the Cover Alabama Coalition Savings Report<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Those residents earn too much to qualify for Medicaid but not enough to afford marketplace insurance \u2014 a gap that advocates say forces people to forgo preventive care and face mounting medical debt.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhether or not we are able to afford meals this month versus picking up prescriptions that we need. It is a situation that none of us want to be in,\u201d said Jennifer Harris with Alabama Arise.<\/p>\n

Providers feel the strain<\/p>\n

Independent clinics in Birmingham are also navigating the pressure. Dr. Kre Johnson, owner of Brownstone Healthcare and Aesthetics, is expanding the insurance coverage her practice accepts \u2014 adding Blue Cross and Medicare patients while maintaining a direct primary care option for uninsured and underinsured patients.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo we still will have part of the arm of direct primary care for people who are uninsured or underinsured. But for those that have Blue Cross and Medicare, they can come back and we\u2019re happy to welcome back,\u201d Johnson said.<\/p>\n

The expansion comes with financial risk. Small clinics face low reimbursement rates, rising administrative costs, and forced insurance refunds. Johnson said the move is a necessity driven by the broader crisis.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s not that many providers around, because they\u2019re retiring quicker than we can bring new graduates in,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Alabama ranks near the bottom nationally<\/p>\n

Alabama ranks 45th in the nation for primary care doctors per capita, according to the United Health Foundation\u2019s 2024 report. Data from the Alabama Department of Public Health shows that 62 of the state\u2019s 67 counties are federally designated doctor shortage areas.<\/p>\n

Harris said the burden of the crisis cannot rest on small business owners alone.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a part of a multi-factor solution,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Federal program still in application phase<\/p>\n

The $203 million Alabama Rural Health Transformation Program includes nearly $58 million dedicated to adding 1,000 new students into clinical training pipelines and expanding state-funded medical residency slots. Another $55.9 million would go toward connecting rural patients to specialists through telehealth.<\/p>\n

As of now, none of the funding has reached local clinics. The program remains in its application phase. The current submission deadline for active funding opportunities under the program is Aug. 7, 2026, at 5 p.m.<\/p>\n

Harris said the need for systemic change is urgent. \u201cWe need a healthcare system that works for all of us because all of us are in this together,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Johnson said she hopes expanded access at her clinic will lead to earlier diagnoses and more preventive care. \u201cI hope that by opening our doors up, people will come and we will be able to diagnose illness. We\u2019ll be able to prevent illness. That\u2019s the thing. Prevention is key,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Johnson said she plans to continue expanding the insurance coverage her practice accepts. Advocacy groups including Alabama Arise are calling for new federal funds to be directed toward independent clinics and doctor retention.<\/p>\n

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Copyright 2026 WBRC. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WBRC) – Alabama has secured more than $203 million in federal funding to address a healthcare…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":769954,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[59],"tags":[5183,328664,328661,328662,11278,328665,97,252,253,3038,9042,328666,1341,328663,1342,42684,3,42681],"class_list":["post-769953","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health-care","tag-alabama","tag-alabama-doctor-shortage","tag-alabama-healthcare-gap","tag-alabama-rural-health-transformation-program","tag-federal-funding","tag-federal-healthcare-funding-alabama-push-alerts","tag-health","tag-health-care","tag-healthcare","tag-healthcare-access","tag-insurance","tag-insurance-gap","tag-medicaid","tag-medicaid-coverage-gap-alabama","tag-medicare","tag-myfoxal","tag-news","tag-wbrc"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/769953","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=769953"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/769953\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/769954"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=769953"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=769953"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=769953"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}