The Alabama Policy Institute (API) continues its fight against Medicaid expansion in the Yellowhammer State.

API Director Stephanie Smith said Alabama should focus on making its private health care system better for its citizens, rather than encouraging more reliance on the government.

Smith recently discussed this issue on WVNN's “Yaffee Program.”

“I think there are a lot of warts in this system,” she said. “But I think a private system with all its warts is better than a system that the federal government just created and we are all subject to.”

One of the main reasons why some Democratic lawmakers have pushed for Medicaid expansion in the past is to provide “coverage,” which includes people who cannot afford private insurance but currently earn too much to qualify for Medicaid. This is because of the disparity.

Smith said Medicaid expansion is not an adequate solution to the coverage gap because it would result in more people dropping out of the workforce.

“There's a coverage gap,” she says. “We should be encouraging those who are working and encouraging them to work, and discouraging them from working because the income threshold is too high and it is difficult to qualify if you have a full-time job.” If you expand Medicaid. So if you expand it, the incentive is you're not working, because you've got this extra money in your insurance coverage without doing anything. .”

Mr. Smith also discussed the possibility of reforming the private system.

“One of the main initiatives we have been working on for several years is the certificate of need process,” she said. “It's directly related to this situation. When the government says to a health care provider or a company that's trying to set up a health care provider, 'You have to go through the government,' it's a long process and often… It's a corrupt process and just establishing a business is an extensive one. , it stifles their business.

“So when we're talking about rural health care, when we're talking about Medicaid expansion, what we really need to do is increase freedom. And by cutting out the certificate of need process. , you can have more freedom.”

Yaffee is a contributor to Yellowhammer News and hosts “The Yaffee Program” weekdays from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. WVNN. You can follow him on Twitter @Yaffee