Sep. 15, 2023, 10:22 a.m.A home health company that's offered services to elderly and disabled patients in Alabama since 1975 is exiting the state because of it hasn't expanded Medicaid. A home health provider is completely pulling its services out of Alabama at the end of September and plans to lay off nearly 800 employees soon after, blaming the state’s inaction to expand Medicaid.
Help at Home informed the Alabama Department of Commerce of its upcoming closure and layoffs in a recent WARN notice, which major employers are legally required to file ahead of closures or layoffs.that its Alabama operations will cease Sept. 30, when the company’s annual contracts with the state for services expires. The layoffs of 785 employees, which are scattered throughout every county in the state, are effective Nov. 4, she said.
“We are disheartened to leave the area we have served for many years, but take our responsibility to provide the safest, in-home personal care services to our clients very seriously,” Trenaman said in an email. “The current reimbursement and regulatory environment for Medicaid-funded home care has made it difficult to recruit, hire and retain workforce and we have not been able to overcome these challenges in the state of Alabama.
Alabama is one of only 10 states that hasn’t accepted federal funding to expand its Medicaid coverage under the Affordable Care Act, and has some of the