Medicaid expansion to be discussed at Tuesday forum

Medicaid expansion will be discussed during a virtual forum Tuesday. It’s the first of two community forums about expanding Medicaid in Tennessee.

The first forum is scheduled from noon to 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, November 2. It will feature professionals discussing the need for expanding Medicaid, a press release said.

The second forum, scheduled for November 16, will feature legislators discussing ways to achieve this goal, the press release said.

“Failure to expand Medicaid in Tennessee is severely impacting the health and welfare of Tennesseans,” the press release said. It said there are more than 300,000 uninsured Tennesseans, and Tennessee is second in the number of hospital closures and leads the nation in terms of hospital closures per capita. Also, many of the uninsured are essential workers whose lack of insurance places them at increased risk just to care for their families, the press release said. And Tennessee is failing to accept $900 million in federal money that would cover the cost of expansion for more than six years, the release said.

The forums include the League of Women Voters of Oak Ridge, the League of Women Voters of Tennessee, and the Tennessee Health Care Campaign. Here is the Zoom link to register: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89470649508?pwd=YmFNNEFHN3ZPaGNJZ05wb0haR0hWUT09.

Here is more information about the forum from the press release:

• Judy Roitman, executive director of Tennessee Health Care Campaign, will chair the panel and moderate discussions.
• Neil McBride, former director of Legal Aid in Oak Ridge and currently on the Board of Directors of the Tennessee Justice Center, will talk about how the failure to expand Medicaid has affected minorities and lower income Tennesseans.
• Alisa LaPolt, policy and advocacy director for the National Alliance on Mental Illness, will talk about the impact that failure to expand Medicaid has had upon mental health services in Tennessee and the anticipated benefits if expansion is approved.
• Dr. Kathryn Crawford, doctor of nursing practice, adjunct instructor in the University of Tennessee College of Nursing, who works on health policy with the Tennessee Justice Center, will talk about the impact the lack of Medicaid expansion currently has in Tennessee on hospitals and citizens’ health.
• Margaret Durgin, executive director of the Child Advocacy Center of Anderson County, will talk about the special impact the failure to expand Medicare has had upon Tennessee’s women and children.

“Lunch with the League welcomes League members and nonmembers alike to this informative presentation,” the press release said. A couple of days following the presentation you may view the recorded presentation on the Oak Ridge League’s website at https://my.lwv.org/tennessee/oak-ridge.

More information will be added as it becomes available.

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