A community forum will be held Mon., April 1, at D.W. McMillan Memorial Hospital in Brewton on Medicaid expansion in Escambia County and the surrounding areas, according to officials.

The forum is free and open to the public. Featured speakers include:

• Dr. David Becker, an associate professor in the UAB School of Public Health and author of the study “Medicaid Expansion in Alabama: Revisiting the Economic Case for Expansion.”
• Dr. Marsha Raulerson, a Brewton pediatrician.
• Chris Griffin, CEO/administrator of DW McMillan Memorial Hospital.

Atmore Community Hospital and DW McMillan Memorial Hospital will co-host this forum along with Alabama Arise. Arise is a nonprofit, nonpartisan coalition of congregations, organizations and individuals promoting public policies to improve the lives of low-income Alabamians. Medicaid expansion would save lives, create jobs and stabilize rural hospitals and clinics across Alabama, research shows. Expansion also would extend coverage to more than 340,000 Alabamians and generate billions of dollars of economic activity across the state each year.

Medicaid provides health coverage to millions of Americans, including eligible low-income adults, children, pregnant women, elderly adults and people with disabilities. Medicaid is administered by states, according to federal requirements. The program is funded jointly by states and the federal government, according to Medicaid’s website.

The forum begins at 6 p.m.