Medicaid website lists “Alabama boogie woogie” in absurd error

Those who happened to visit medicaid.gov to learn about qualifying for coverage before Thursday may have caught an apparent website mishap.

When rolling over Alabama on a U.S. map, what appeared was “Alabama boogie woogie.” No other state had a similar mistake.

The “boogie woogie” map had been live on the medicaid.gov page where state Medicaid agencies can be searched at least since Oct. 15, 2022, according to archives from the Wayback Machine.

At about 3 p.m. on Thursday, the mistake was corrected after AL.com reached out to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) for comment. CMS responded to that request for information Friday morning by confirming they removed it from the site, but provided no reason for the mistake.

However, that didn’t keep people from having their fun. After an AL.com reporter discovered the blip and posted it on Twitter and Reddit, folks online shared their bewilderment at the screenshot.

“It’s a warning about the rocking pneumonia and the boogie woogie flu,” @David_Jorgonson replied on Twitter, referencing the 1957 Huey “Piano” Smith song.

“Boogie woogie for all,” said a comment from Reddit user u/Capable_Ad8953.

Some hypothesized that the error was due to developers testing a function on the site but failed to remove it after testing.

“As a developer leaving embarrassing placeholder text in a project is one of my biggest fears,” Twitter user @deLessuno commented.

Others used the opportunity to make a statement on healthcare access in the state.

“They’re saying to boogie woogie on outta here because this state has some really backward medical policies,” wrote Reddit user u/shimmer_bee.

“The level of care, the kinds of things they cover, how desperate you have to be to qualify, etc., varies from State to State,” said Redditor u/greed-man. “This could be some programmer taking a shot at a State that intentionally is harming their own populace.”

In 2023, AL.com reported that Alabama is the only state where Medicaid won’t cover some breast cancer screening. Since the COVID-19 continuous coverage period that ended in June 2023, tens of thousands of Alabamians have lost Medicaid coverage.

In February, the Alabama Hospital Association proposed a plan in which Alabamians making up to 138% of the federal poverty level — $20,783 a year for an individual as of January — would be eligible for full Medicaid benefits but would receive coverage through a private insurer. Current eligibility in Alabama is among the most strict in the country, with parents and caretaker relatives only eligible for the program with incomes of up to $370 a month for a family of three.