Walk with me for a second.
Montgomery's hospitals are full because so many rural hospitals in Alabama have closed.
Montgomery's hospitals are full because so many rural hospitals in Alabama have closed.
Rural hospitals in Alabama keep closing because politicians in the Republican-controlled state refuse to expand Medicaid. al.com/opinion/2020/0…
The refusal to expand Medicaid hits hardest in rural areas such as the Black Belt, where incomes — and public-health measures — are among the state's lowest. eji.org/news/women-are…
Look at this map of Alabama's Black Belt — which fans out east and west from, wait for it, Montgomery County. 
“In Alabama, Black Belt counties have fewer primary care physicians, dentists and mental health providers per resident than other counties. They also tend to have the highest rates of uninsured people. Poverty rates … are also high.” fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-h…
Anyhow, a map of Ala. hospital closures since 2010, when the ACA was adopted, shows closures clustered in and near the state's Black Belt. (Source: public.tableau.com/profile/stroud…)
This crisis gives us a laser-lit look at how bad public policy hurts and kills people. Don't turn away.
This crisis gives us a laser-lit look at how bad public policy hurts and kills people. Don't turn away.
