Advocates call for special session on TennCare
Gov. Phil Bredesen has said he’s cutting about 190,000 adults from TennCare and reducing benefits for thousands of others because the state cannot afford the $8.7 billion program in its current form.
Some advocates say lawmakers could use the special session to figure out a better way to utilize money the state has set aside to help those being disenrolled, while others call for taxes to keep people on the program.
“There are people who have been cut off who cannot wait to have the problem fixed later on,” said Tony Garr, executive director of the Tennessee Health Care Campaign. “People’s lives are on the line.”
Garr was among about 300 people, including some lawmakers, who rallied near the Capitol on Saturday.
Rep. Mike Turner, whose brother and neighbor have lost TennCare coverage, attended the rally and said he supports a special session.
“In fairness to the governor, he inherited a mess,” the Nashville Democrat said. “Where he and I differ is that I think he made the wrong choices on how he chose to fix it.”
For instance, Turner said some lawmakers have mentioned taxing cigarettes as a way to raise money and lessen cuts, but the governor has opposed raising taxes.
A special session can be called only by the governor or two-thirds of state legislators.
“The governor opposes a special session to pass an income tax, a provider tax or any other tax for TennCare,” said Bob Corney, the governor’s communications director.
But Garr said raising taxes isn’t the only solution. He said better oversight of the program would save millions of dollars, such as cracking down on doctors who overprescribe drugs.
“We want to reform and restore TennCare in a way that’s safe and fiscally responsible,” Garr said. “We are not trying to bring TennCare back the way it was because TennCare was not fiscally responsible.”
Bredesen announced earlier this month that concessions won in federal court would save enough money to keep 97,000 of the medically needy or sickest enrollees on TennCare.
The category for those people was closed in April, and the governor has said it won’t be reopened until next July. That means adults who otherwise would have qualified for the medically needy category can’t get the same help as the 97,000, which has hospital officials concerned.
J. Richard Wagers, Vanderbilt University Medical Center’s senior vice president and chief financial officer, said the hospital has seen a dramatic increase in uninsured adult patients since the April closure.
“In terms of charges, during just May, June and July, we saw that increase about $8 million in terms of unsponsored adult patients,” Wagers said.
TennCare would have reimbursed the hospital for the care of some of those patients retroactively if enrollment hadn’t been closed, he said.
Finance Commissioner Dave Goetz said the state is working toward a closer date to reopen the medically needy category.
Meanwhile, hospitals may be able to get some relief in extra state and federal payments.
Every year, hospitals that serve TennCare and charity patients have been dividing up a special $100 million kitty. About two-thirds of the money comes from the federal government. The state wants to add an additional $50 million this year and has asked federal overseers at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services for approval and funding.
Goetz said the formula likely would focus more on hospitals having difficulty making a profit.