New Book from Families USA
April 23, 2007
Unwilling Volunteers:
Tennesseans Forced out of Health Care
"The collapse of the TennCare program has shocked
Tennessee's healthcare system in a way that
no other state has ever experienced."
In 2005, Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen executed the largest cuts in health coverage in our nation's history. Tens of thousands of people were dropped from TennCare, the state's innovative Medicaid program. Others who remained in the program had their benefits slashed. The loss of TennCare benefits meant that many people missed needed care and medicines, making their illnesses and other health problems worse. For others, losing TennCare literally—and unnecessarily—cost them their lives.
Against this backdrop, it is instructive to look beyond the numbers and see what has happened to the real people affected by the TennCare cuts. That is what this book is designed to do. These stories show, without a doubt, that cuts in Medicaid and other public health programs devastate people's lives.
