Expert: Tennessee leads nation in medical bankruptcies

WVLT News'

in Nashville recently launched a new initiative called "

." According to WTVF, the "goal of the project is to shed light on a lopsided

that has left thousands of Tennesseans with crippling debt."

The executive director of the

, a nonprofit that assists Tennessee families with health care issues, spoke about medical debt in the Volunteer State.

"Often times, people are choosing between medicine and food... which we can do better at as a nation," Johnson said.

Johnson also said that 70 percent of Tennesseans have some medical debt, and our state leads the national in medical bankruptcies. According to the Tennessee Bar Association,