Sally Smallwood

Guest Columnist

Sally Smallwood is co-founder of The Coalition for a Strong Tennessee.

On Wednesday the future of 300,000 Tennesseans who lack access to affordable healthcare will be decided.

Rep. Ron Travis, R-Dayton, and Rep. Jason Hodges, D-Clarkesville, have re-introduced former Gov. Bill Haslam’s Insure Tennessee plan to the Tennessee House of Representatives and Rep. Hawk has promised a full hearing in the TennCare subcommittee.

Sadly, Representative Travis understands too well the enormous cost of not having passed this legislation to date. His sister-in-law died from a treatable illness last fall due to her lack of healthcare coverage. She was one of hundreds of Tennesseans over the past several years who have died due to a lack of insurance.

It is time to pass Insure Tennessee so that others like her can live.

Rural communities, especially, are in crisis

Our restaurant workers, constructions workers, musicians, and military veterans who are working hard to be part of a healthy workforce deserve to have health insurance. The data is chilling.

The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities reported that nearly 1,000 lives have been lost in Tennessee because our state has not used the federal funds that have been available to us since 2014 to expand healthcare.

In addition, research published last month by the American Medical Association showed that in states that have expanded care, 6% fewer people die opioid-related deaths. Moreover, Tennessee ranks first in the nation in medical bankruptcies.

The decision by our state not to expand healthcare also has created a personal crisis for our rural communities which have lost their hospitals.

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Fifty-two percent of Tennessee’s remaining rural care centers are in the same financial situation as those that have closed, affecting not only the health of the residents but also the economic viability of their communities. Even rural residents who do have insurance will find a treatable condition fatal if they don’t have a hospital.

In addition, hospital emergency rooms are not obligated to help the uninsured with chronic conditions like cancer, diabetes, schizophrenia, heart disease, and any other non-critical event. Patients without health insurance will often delay seeking care until it is too late. Insure Tennessee could save and restore all of these lives.

Data has also shown that about 1,000 lives could have been saved if the Tennessee legislature had expanded care.

Citizens want to see lawmakers adopt Insure Tennessee

More than 19,000 deaths have been prevented in the 36 states that have expanded healthcare since 2014. Many more people have been able to return to work and support their families because they received timely and proper treatment for injuries and illnesses.

The data shows a lifesaving benefit equal to those saved by seatbelts. Why not in Tennessee?

According to Vanderbilt polling, more than 60% of Tennesseans supported Insure Tennessee when Governor Haslam proposed it because it makes good sense and as Representative Travis says, “It is the right thing to do.”

Healthcare concerns remain a top issue for voters in the 2020 election. Most of the folks who would benefit from this coverage are employed and we need their participation in our workforce.

Due to legislative unwillingness to pass Insure Tennessee, since 2014, more than $8 billion of our taxpayer dollars designated to pay for healthcare for working Tennesseans has gone to other states that have chosen to expand coverage.

But the tide is turning. Four additional Republican legislators have signed on to support the current legislation. They understand that providing healthcare to all Tennesseans makes good moral and economic sense.

Thank you, Rep. Mark White, Rep. Paul Sherrell, Rep. Bob Ramsey, and Rep. Kent Calfee, for understanding that Tennessee needs a healthy workforce to continue the economic growth our state has experienced in recent years

It is time for a real solution to the life and death decisions Tennesseans face each day.

Legislators, please bring our taxes home and use resources available at no cost to Tennesseans to provide healthcare and financial security for 300,000+ Tennesseans. Our neighbors should not have to ration care or die.

Sally Smallwood is co-founder of The Coalition for a Strong Tennessee. Learn more at BringOurTaxesHome.org.