Presumptive Medicaid eligibility for pregnant women sent to governor’s desk
The Alabama House concurred on a Senate bill Tuesday that would provide presumptive eligibility for Medicaid coverage to pregnant women, sending the bill to Gov. Kay Ivey’s desk for final approval.
Senate Bill 102, sponsored by Sen. Linda Coleman-Madison, D-Birmingham, provides presumptive eligibility for Medicaid coverage to pregnant women, allowing them to receive expedited prenatal care in most instances. Without presumptive eligibility, pregnant women who are eligible for Medicaid often wait weeks or longer before they can begin receiving care. Waits can be even longer for those living in rural areas of the state.
In the House, the bill was introduced by Rep. Marylyn Lands, D-Huntsville, who has characterized the legislation as an effort to improve the state’s maternal and infant mortality rates, which remain among the highest in the nation.
House members voted unanimously to concur with the Senate version of the bill, which now awaits Ivey’s signature.
A separate bill sponsored by Sen. Arthur Orr, R-Dectur, which passed out of committee last week, saw some concerns expressed that it could negate SB102. The bill, Senate Bill 245, would, in essence, prohibit the Alabama Medicaid Agency from granting presumptive eligibility to any Alabamian.
When asked about the bill, Lands told Alabama Daily News that a compromise appeared to have been worked out between Orr and Coleman-Madison that would preserve presumptive eligibility for pregnant women, even were Orr’s bill to become law.
“It is a contradiction, so Sen. Coleman-Madison has offered an amendment to Sen. Orr that I think is acceptable,” Lands told ADN. “So that would carve out pregnancy as not a piece of his legislation.”
Alabama House advances rural hospital tax credit program
A bill that could generate as much as $30 million over a year-long period for rural hospitals passed unanimously out of the Alabama House Tuesday.
House Bill 86, sponsored by Rep. Terri Collins, R-Decatur, would establish a new tax credit program that would allow for individuals and corporations to receive tax credits for donating to eligible rural hospitals, up to $15,000’s worth for individuals and $500,000 for corporations. The bill would cap the amount of tax credits awarded per year to $30 million in 2027.
Collins carried a similar bill last year, however, it failed to pass out of a House committee. Having passed out of both committee and the House this year, it now moves to the Senate.
The bill has been characterized by Collins and its supporters as an effort to help the state’s struggling rural hospitals, with some having shuttered services or closed indefinitely in recent months. More than half of the state’s 52 rural hospitals are at risk of closing, and 19 are at an immediate risk of closing, per the Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform.
Effort to regulate consumable hemp products broadened, advanced in committee
The Alabama House Health Committee voted Tuesday to advance a bill that would more strictly regulate consumable hemp products like delta-8 and other psychoactive cannabinoids.
House Bill 445, sponsored by Rep. Andy Whitt, R-Harvest, would limit where psychoactive cannabinoids could be sold, prohibit them from being sold to those under 21 and impose a 7% state excise tax on all sales. The bill was met with considerable support and opposition last week during a public hearing, with many retailers speaking out against the bill and members of law enforcement advocating in favor of it.
Before the bill’s passage, committee members voted in favor of a substitute for the bill. Changes include an outright ban on all inhalable hemp products, stricter THC limits, an explicit ban on online sales and deliveries, and mandated single-serving packaging for edibles.
The bill now heads to the House.
Senate passes amended age of medical consent bill
The Alabama Senate on Tuesday voted to increase the age of medical consent in Alabama, though not by as much as the bill sponsor had intended.
As originally written, Sen. Larry Stutts’ Senate Bill 101 would have increased the age of consent from 14 to 18 for medical, dental and mental health services.
An amendment by Sen. David Sessions, R- Grand Bay, changed that to 16.
The bill carves out exceptions in which minors would keep their medical consent authority if: They’ve graduated high school; they’re pregnant; married or divorced; emancipated; living away from their parents or guardians and financially independent.
Minors would not need parental consent for health services to “prevent or determine the presence of pregnancy” or for drug or alcohol testing.