By CHANCE PHILLIPS, Alabama Political Reporter

Speaking with Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear on an episode of the governor’s podcast, former Senator and Democratic gubernatorial nominee Doug Jones said his “first act” as governor would be to expand Medicaid eligibility.

Alabama is one of just 10 states that have not expanded Medicaid under subsidies first established by the Affordable Care Act of 2010. Expansion would extend eligibility to individuals earning up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level.

States are responsible for a portion of Medicaid costs, but the federal government covers 90 percent of health care costs for people insured through expansion.

If Alabama expanded the program, the Public Affairs Research Council of Alabama estimated in 2022 that it would cost the state $225 million annually. The organization also estimated that the state could realize net savings because expansion would allow Alabama to reduce spending in other areas that could instead be covered through Medicaid.Combining the Public Affairs Research Council of Alabama’s findings with Urban Institute estimates on the effects of work requirements, the advocacy organization Families USA recently estimated that Medicaid expansion would provide health insurance to more than 150,000 additional Alabamians.

“We’re going to do that,” Jones said. “We got to get with the legislature to help fund it. But the second one right behind it—it’ll be on the desk at the same time—will be that one-year moratorium on data centers so that the state of Alabama can take the time to do it right to make sure that we’re getting the guard rails in place, to get the transparency in place to get the ethics laws in place, to get everything so communities will be comfortable and they can help make those decisions.”

“I’m not going to allow Alabama to be the dumping ground for data centers,” Jones continued. “We want to do it right for these communities and the people that are in there.”

Beshear also criticized U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville, R-Alabama, Jones’ opponent in the race for governor, over what Beshear described as Tuberville’s lack of support for stronger federal regulation of artificial intelligence.

“There is an opportunity to have real law and regulation that prevents AI from getting out of hand, from it getting out there and stealing your personal ability, from its ability to use deepfake. But Tommy Tuberville won’t do anything about it,” Beshear said. “Why? Because Donald Trump doesn’t want to do anything about it.”

Responding to Beshear’s description of Tuberville as “willing to do whatever a president says,” Jones said he chose to run for governor rather than seek his former Senate seat, as former Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown is doing, because governors are “the ones standing up to all this.”

Jones also joked about a story published by The Washington Post, which reported that Tuberville frequently talks to ChatGPT during car rides.

“He must be talking about a pretty rogue version to come up with some of the things he says in public,” Jones said. 

Chance Phillips is a reporter. You can reach him at cphillips@alreporter.com

Featured Image: Gubernatorial candidate Doug Jones hosts a town hall.  (Doug Jones Campaign)