MPH’s Buntin: Uninsured Tennesseans struggle after state doesn’t expand Medicaid coverage
Kentucky and Tennessee are similar in many ways: geography, demographics, income. But in 2013, the governor of Kentucky embraced the Affordable Care Act, expanding Medicaid coverage to tens of thousands of low-income families. Tennessee did not. As one of many results, uninsured Tennesseans have a particularly hard time getting treatment for mental health and substance abuse problems, says Melinda Buntin, head of the department of health policy at Vanderbilt University’s School of Medicine.