Attorney Shomari Figures (left) won the Democratic nomination for the 2nd Congressional District in a runoff on Tuesday. Attorney Caroleene Dobson (right) won the Republican nomination for the seat. The candidates will face each other in November. (Left: Stew Milne for Alabama Reflector: Right: Caroleene Dobson Campaign)
Democratic candidate Shomari Figures and Republican candidate Caroleene Dobson have different ideas on improving health in Alabama’s 2nd Congressional District, which encompasses a region marked by some of the worst health outcomes in the nation.
Nearly every county in the district, mainly in the Black Belt region, has fewer physicians than the state average. According to County Health Rankings, Alabama averaged one primary care physician for every 1,570 residents in 2021. In Washington, it’s one for every 15,150 residents. In Russell, it’s one for every 5,870 residents.
Life expectancy is also lower in the region than across Alabama overall (73.7 years). Conecuh County residents have a life expectancy of 69.5 years, over four fewer years than the state average.
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Figures said in an interview that the state’s poor health outcomes, especially in the district, could be addressed if the state expanded Medicaid, calling the solution a “low-hanging fruit.” Alabama is one of the last remaining states that has not opted into the program, which provides Medicaid coverage to those making up to 138% of the poverty level, about $20,783 a year for an individual and $35,632 for a household of three.
A U.S. House representative wouldn’t have the power to expand Medicaid in Alabama, but Figures said he’d sponsor legislation to encourage Alabama and the nine remaining nonexpansion states to have 100% of the expansion cost covered, with grants to address specific needs.
“The people in those [non-expansion] states, they are suffering,” Figures said. “They are suffering with continued, bad health care access options, or no access options at all. If the state of Alabama expanded Medicaid, and I would certainly be looking to sponsor and or co-sponsor legislation that would funnel resources directly to county health systems.”
Figures said there need to be incentives for health care professionals to serve in rural areas, and he proposed policies like accelerated retirement benefits for doctors who spend time in underserved communities, adding that “we have to do everything that we can to incentivize those types of providers to come in and set up shop in this district.”
Republican candidate Caroleene Dobson was not available for an interview. Saylor Cuzzort, a spokesperson for the campaign, asked for questions instead but did not return the request.
On her website, Dobson focuses on reducing health care costs through economic growth and fighting against what she views as excessive government control, arguing that “good health care starts with a strong economy, where good jobs provide good health benefits.”
Her platform includes ending surprise medical billing; reducing the cost of prescription drugs and health insurance premiums and protecting patients with pre-existing conditions.
“Alabama families don’t need more government control of health care —they need leaders who fight for economic freedom,” Dobson’s campaign website states.
Although the campaign website does not address Medicaid expansion, Dobson in February signaled support for a “private-public partnership” in a Republican candidate forum.
She also stated that she “will honor our commitments to hardworking families and retirees who have contributed to Social Security and Medicare” on her website.
Both candidates express support for in-vitro fertilization (IVF) services, despite their different approaches on how to safeguard the fertility treatment and opposing stances on broader reproductive health issues.
Dobson, who is anti-abortion, has described IVF as consistent with her “pro-life” values, stating, “helping women and couples to create, nurture, and bring new life into the world is the textbook definition of being pro-life.”
Figures, meanwhile, skirted around the topic of abortion and IVF and tied the availability of reproductive health services to the broader need for Medicaid expansion, pointing out that many women in the district have to travel long distances for basic reproductive care due to a lack of facilities.
His campaign website also does not state what specific policies he supports, other than he would “protect reproductive rights and ensure every patient can make their own healthcare decisions – on their own, for their own futures.” In April, he said that he supported codifying Roe into law, and Anitra Henderson, a spokesperson for the campaign, said Wednesday that is still his position.
He also said that the health care environment in Alabama of “attacking women’s ability to make their own healthcare decisions,” keeps doctors away.
“In doing so you’re pushing out and creating an environment where reproductive healthcare service providers do not want to work here,” Figures said.
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