Medical debt is in many ways a unique barrier to economic mobility. Unlike a car or home loan, it often results from unexpected emergencies or surprise bills for scheduled care.It’s also surprisingly common across demographic and socioeconomic lines. In 2016, medical debt hurt the credit reports of 1 in 4 Tennesseans – the 10th highest rate in the county. There is no silver bullet solution, but Tennessee policymakers have a wide range of options to prevent the problem, help people manage it, and mitigate its effects.On October 29th, Managing Director Joanna Smith-Ramani joined the Sycamore Institute for a meaningful dialogue about what state policymakers can do to address medical debt in Tennessee.Medical debt is in many ways a unique barrier to economic mobility. Unlike a car or home loan, it often results from unexpected emergencies or surprise bills for scheduled care.It’s also surprisingly common across demographic and socioeconomic lines. In 2016, medical debt hurt the credit reports of 1 in 4 Tennesseans – the 10th highest rate in the county. There is no silver bullet solution, but Tennessee policymakers have a wide range of options to prevent the problem, help people manage it, and mitigate its effects.On October 29th, Managing Director Joanna Smith-Ramani joined the Sycamore Institute for a meaningful dialogue about what state policymakers can do to address medical debt in Tennessee.