Forum tonight focuses on need for Medicaid expansion in state

Donna Smith, The Oak Ridger
·2 min read

The League of Women Voters of Oak Ridge and a number of area organizations are sponsoring a panel discussion tonight on Medicaid Expansion in Tennessee.

The free, open-to-the-public forum is set for 7 to 9 p.m. Tuesday at the Oak Ridge Associated Universities' Pollard Auditorium, 210 Badger Ave.

Judy Roitman gives reasons why Medicaid expansion should be adopted by the state of Tennessee in a virtual forum.
Judy Roitman gives reasons why Medicaid expansion should be adopted by the state of Tennessee in a virtual forum.

TAccording to the League news release on the event, "The forum is for the purpose of further informing the Tennessee electorate on the urgency of Medicaid expansion in Tennessee. But more importantly, it will seek to convince Tennessee legislators of their accountability in this Tennessee crisis on health care and the need for them to fix it."

Zach Buck, an assistant professor of law at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, will moderate Tuesday night's discussion. He will moderate a panel of four speakers:

Rev. Derrick M. Hammond
Rev. Derrick M. Hammond

  • William Culbert, a retired physician from Oak Ridge, who will speak on "The Abandoned Patient."

  • Judy Roitman, also of Oak Ridge, executive director of the Tennessee Health Care Campaign, who will address "The Impact of Medicaid Expansion on Hospitals and Communities."

  • The Rev. Derrick Hammond, pastor of Oak Valley Baptist Church in Oak Ridge, who will speak on "The Impacts of Health and Health Care Disparities Within Minority and Marginalized Communities,"; and

  • Matthew C. Harris, UTK professor of economics, specializing in health care, who will ask, "If we pull the Medicaid expansion lever, what can we expect to happen from an economic perspective?"

William Culbert
William Culbert

The organizations joining the Oak Ridge League in "speaking to the importance of Medicaid expansion" are: the Oak Ridge chapter and Tennessee chapter of the American Association of University Women (AAUW); the League of Women Voters of Tennessee; the Tennessee Health Care Campaign, SEIU Local 205 at Methodist Medical Center of Oak Ridge, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, New Direction Health Care Solutions, the Tennessee Disability Coalition, the Women's Interfaith Dialogue of Oak Ridge, the Arts and Culture Alliance of Greater Knoxville, Oak Valley Baptist Church, the National Association of Social Workers/Tennessee chapter; Nurture the Next; the Knox/Oak Ridge chapter of the Central Labor Council, the Interfaith Worker Justice of East Tennessee, Tennessee Out-Reach Center for Homeless (TORCH), Oak Ridge Solutions on Racism, the Free Medical Clinic of Oak Ridge, United Way of Anderson County, and Jobs with Justice of East Tennessee.

This article originally appeared on Oakridger: Forum tonight focuses on need for Medicaid expansion in state