HealthConnections: What the Medicaid Gap Means for Tennessee

In 2010, the Affordable Care Act became the law of the land. Since then, gains have been made in the number of Americans with affordable health care coverage. The not-so-good news is that mandating Medicaid expansion, a major mechanism for extending coverage, did not survive a Supreme Court challenge in 2012. The Supreme Court ruled that Medicaid expansion by the states was optional, not required. So far, 39 states and the District of Columbia have expanded Medicaid. However, 12 states, including Tennessee, have not. Dr. Carole Myers of the University of Tennessee College of Nursing speaks with Kinika Young, an attorney and the Senior Director of Health Policy and Equity with the Tennessee Justice Center about what that means for Tennessee.