Medicaid work requirements · Alabama

Medicaid work requirements in Alabama: who is subject and who loses coverage (2027)

Data snapshot 2026-06-03 · part of These 5 Million People Are About to Lose Their Medicaid — But They Don't Have To

Alabama has not expanded Medicaid, so the federal work requirement that takes effect January 1, 2027 does not apply to a state expansion population. This model counts no Alabama adults as subject.

The requirement matters for Alabama in a different way: if the state expanded Medicaid later, its expansion adults would report from day one. The American Community Survey counts about 536,237 uninsured Alabama adults with household income at or below 138% of the poverty line, the population an expansion would cover and the requirement would then reach.

Key figures

Model v2-2026-06-03. "Strict" counts adults whose ACS record shows them subject with no observable exemption; "permissive" allows the broader exemption reading.
MeasureAlabama
Expansion stateNo
Subject to the requirement via waiverNo
Expansion pool (adults 19 to 64)0
Adults subject, strict definition0
Adults subject, permissive definition0
Share of expansion pool subject0.0%
Projected coverage loss by 20340
Hardship exception statusNon expansion
Early implementerNo
Ex parte capability score (0 to 100)n/a

Counties in Alabama: uninsured adults below 138% of poverty

Jefferson County (70,803), Madison County (44,708), and Mobile County (43,220) hold the most uninsured low-income adults in Alabama.

ACS 5-year estimates by county. These adults are not subject to the 2027 requirement because Alabama has not expanded Medicaid.
CountyUninsured adults at or below 138% FPLPoverty rateWorking-age population
Jefferson County70,80316.0%393,352
Madison County44,70811.0%248,380
Mobile County43,22018.0%240,112
Tuscaloosa County26,56617.0%147,586
Baldwin County24,97910.0%138,773
Shelby County24,5347.0%136,298
Montgomery County23,81020.0%132,278
Lee County20,61618.0%114,532
Morgan County12,90314.0%71,686
Limestone County12,26211.0%68,122
Calhoun County12,21918.0%67,882
Houston County11,16818.0%62,044
Etowah County10,66016.0%59,220
Lauderdale County10,06913.0%55,940
Marshall County9,98917.0%55,494
St. Clair County9,96611.0%55,368
Elmore County9,79510.0%54,418
Cullman County9,35513.0%51,971
Talladega County8,60919.0%47,828
DeKalb County7,44020.0%41,332
Walker County6,57416.0%36,524
Autauga County6,38111.0%35,450
Russell County6,28122.0%34,894
Blount County6,13714.0%34,097
Colbert County5,98116.0%33,226
Coffee County5,69316.0%31,627
Jackson County5,47819.0%30,436
Dale County5,13118.0%28,504
Chilton County4,78614.0%26,588
Tallapoosa County4,09317.0%22,742
Escambia County3,74822.0%20,824
Covington County3,68719.0%20,483
Pike County3,66224.0%20,346
Dallas County3,64327.0%20,240
Chambers County3,55518.0%19,748
Lawrence County3,48516.0%19,361
Franklin County3,26217.0%18,125
Marion County2,96416.0%16,466
Geneva County2,74921.0%15,272
Cherokee County2,57014.0%14,275
Barbour County2,56924.0%14,272
Bibb County2,44821.0%13,601
Winston County2,40618.0%13,366
Clarke County2,28222.0%12,676
Randolph County2,27120.0%12,616
Pickens County2,00522.0%11,138
Monroe County1,94223.0%10,788
Macon County1,92525.0%10,692
Marengo County1,88821.0%10,490
Butler County1,84421.0%10,242
Henry County1,73716.0%9,650
Fayette County1,60222.0%8,899
Cleburne County1,58513.0%8,808
Washington County1,58316.0%8,794
Clay County1,46718.0%8,148
Hale County1,44725.0%8,040
Lamar County1,34615.0%7,476
Crenshaw County1,32115.0%7,340
Choctaw County1,21519.0%6,752
Sumter County1,17130.0%6,507
Conecuh County1,09918.0%6,107
Bullock County1,05528.0%5,862
Coosa County1,04911.0%5,829
Wilcox County1,00227.0%5,566
Lowndes County99626.0%5,533
Perry County75033.0%4,167
Greene County70133.0%3,896

State brief and methodology

Estimates, not counts. The model rakes to CBO's national subject total and allocates by ACS microdata; state agencies hold the administrative data that would replace these figures.

Sources

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