Health disparities existed long before COVID-19, but this pandemic has raised awareness about long standing inequities that have plagued this country.
Based on CDC data, black and latinx Americans are three times as likely to become infected as white Americans and almost twice as likely to die of COVID-19.
Expanding Medicaid to cover the uninsured is one of the easiest options to address health disparities. Tennessee lawmakers argue that expanding Medicaid would be too costly. Under the Affordable Care Act, the Federal Government provides 90% of the cost of Medicaid expansion, while states fund 10%.
In fact, former Governor Bill Haslam obtained a commitment from hospitals that they would pay the state’s 10% share so that there would be no cost at all to our state. Expanding Medicaid would bring in $1.4 billion per year, create 15,000 healthcare jobs, and provide health insurance to over 300,000 Tennesseans.
Without expansion, Tennessee has seen 13 rural hospitals close since 2010, further widening the healthcare gaps in our state.
Support Medicaid expansion in Tennessee and do something to reduce the healthcare disparities in our community.
This is Dr. Susan Nelson for Church Health.