Virginia wants you to join her in protecting health coverage in Alabama

By Whit Sides, Cover Alabama storyteller, Alabama Arise

Virginia would say things have been going well since moving back home to Birmingham a year ago – steady even. She said consistency has been key in staying healthy when life takes on unexpected changes.

And Virginia has had to navigate some unexpected changes recently. 

After graduating from Mountain Brook High School and attending the University of Montevallo, she got married and followed her military spouse out of state. Virginia became a federal employee on the base where they were stationed, working in health care administration.

One of the benefits of being in a military family was having health coverage through TRICARE. That allowed her to stay on top of her mental and physical health.

“I’ve been treated for depression, anxiety and ADHD since I was very young, about 14, so it’s important that I regularly go to counseling. It’s important to find medication that works and stick with it,” Virginia said. “The reason I’ve done so well with my mental health is because I’ve had access to great health coverage throughout my life.”

When she and her spouse decided to separate, Virginia moved home. Then she learned she had lost her TRICARE health coverage in November 2024. 

“I knew I had to be in Birmingham. It’s where I know people. It’s where my family is,” she said. “I wasn’t in the best space emotionally, but I knew if I could make it home, I could deal with whatever was next once I got there.”

Reconnecting with the community

Virginia began her job search the day she arrived back in Alabama. She soon started working at a grocery store. The work was brutal, with long hours on her feet and only 10-minute breaks. But she said she was grateful for the support system that helped her earn money and become plugged into her community again.

“When I told my friends I was looking for a job, so many people were incredibly helpful, and that’s how I heard about the navigators at Enroll Alabama,” she said.

Virginia mentioned to her roommate that she was living without insurance. Her roommate then suggested visiting healthcare.gov to explore the Marketplace created under the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

An enrollment navigator walked Virginia through the process. With her recent income and household changes, together they discovered that she was eligible for premium tax credits that reduced the cost of her monthly health insurance premiums.

“I did a lot of research to make sure the plan I chose covered most of what I needed to cover my regular medications and doctors and everything,” she said. “And honestly, it wasn’t the cheapest plan, but I could afford it now with the help.”

Shortly after Virginia enrolled in her new plan, she received more good news: She was offered a job working at a family-owned office downtown.

“I work at a small local office now, and the reason I could accept that job is because I already had insurance,” she said.

The budget debate becomes personal

Since moving back, Virginia said, she feels like starting over in Birmingham was the right decision. She has plugged into several social organizations and is making an effort to become involved in causes she was passionate about locally.

That’s when Virginia found out the U.S. House recently passed a budget reconciliation bill (HR 1) with proposed health care cuts that might affect her directly.

“I follow the news, and I’ve seen everything to do with the budget bill for a while now,” she said. “And understandably, a lot of the discussion focuses on Medicaid and Medicare, which is a really big issue. But sometimes navigating health policy is hard when I’m like, ‘OK, if Medicaid’s getting cut and Medicare is getting cut, does that include funding for the Affordable Care Act?”

Alabama Arise and Birmingham Indivisible co-hosted a community town hall at East Lake United Methodist Church on May 31 in Birmingham. Panelists discussed proposed federal cuts to food assistance and health coverage.

Virginia was one of the nearly 100 people in attendance that day. She heard Debbie Smith, Arise’s Cover Alabama campaign director, break down what HR 1 could mean for Alabamians who receive subsidies to help pay for their ACA plans. For people like Virginia.

“Someone on the panel said that there would be up to 75% cut of the premium tax credits,” Virginia said. “My heart sank, you know? I put my head in my head in my hands and may have literally gasped, ‘Oh, no!’”

How federal cuts would undermine health care across Alabama

The budget plan now moving through Congress would make health care more expensive and less accessible for people across Alabama and nationwide. One way it would do that is to allow enhanced tax credits for ACA Marketplace coverage to expire.

This expiration would cause out-of-pocket premium payments to increase by more than 75% on average for people enrolled in Marketplace plans, according to KFF. In Alabama, that increase would be 93% on average. And in a dozen other states, people would see their premium payments more than double on average. Most of them, like Alabama, have not expanded Medicaid to cover adults with low incomes.

The most significant Marketplace premium increases likely would hit older adults and enrollees with lower incomes, according to KFF. And those higher costs would play a huge role in driving up Alabama’s uninsured rate.

About 190,000 Alabamians would lose health coverage under the proposed new cuts and barriers to Medicaid and ACA coverage. The cuts also would increase the financial strain on many rural hospitals and clinics and ultimately would drive up health care costs for everyone, no matter what type of coverage they have. And all of the cuts would help finance tax breaks for wealthy households and highly profitable corporations.

For Virginia, the health care cuts would be personal. She said she receives close to $300 a month from the tax credits toward her health coverage costs.

“It’s only $3,100 a year, which is not a lot to these people working on the bill, but like, come on, man,” she said. “You’re going to take that from us, when it’s a 75% difference? That’s such a huge deal.”

Speaking out for herself and others

Virginia said she understands that our country needs a budget from year to year. But she said she hopes Alabama’s elected officials reject health care cuts that would harm so many people, including her.

“I’ve been making calls to lawmakers about other issues since before I even knew I was impacted,” Virginia said. “And so now I just start my day by calling [Sen.] Katie Britt and calling [Sen. Tommy] Tuberville. If I leave a voicemail, I call him ‘Coach,’ but sometimes, people actually answer and I have to work through my social anxiety.”

Virginia encourages anyone who might feel overwhelmed by advocacy to take it one step at a time, and to reach out to their lawmakers with their own story.

“I fundamentally disagree with everyone right now who says that it doesn’t matter if you make a call or show up at a town hall,” she said. “Because if we all say, ‘Nothing I do matters’ and we all sit here and do nothing, then we’re really going to be in trouble.”

About Alabama Arise and Cover Alabama

Whit Sides is the Cover Alabama storyteller for Alabama Arise, a statewide, member-led organization advancing public policies to improve the lives of Alabamians who are marginalized by poverty. Arise’s membership includes faith-based, community, nonprofit and civic groups, grassroots leaders and individuals from across Alabama. Email: whit@alarise.org.

Arise is a founding member of the Cover Alabama coalition. Cover Alabama is a nonpartisan alliance of advocacy groups, businesses, community organizations, consumer groups, health care providers and religious congregations advocating for Alabama to provide quality, affordable health coverage to its residents and implement a sustainable health care system.

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