Bredesen aids evacuees, steps on Tennesseans

Gov. Phil Bredesen has announced TennCare enrollment is open to certain evacuees who have made their way from the Gulf Coast to Tennessee.

For a state that’s kicking 200,000 of its own residents off TennCare, this is an inappropriate gesture. If Tennessee is facing such brutal economic times that it must snatch TennCare away from its own residents, there’s no reason to offer it to anyone else.

It’s understandable the governor wants to lend a helping hand to hurricane victims. Virtually every Tennessean feels the same way.

That’s the reason dozens and dozens of local businesses, organizations and concerned citizens have raised money for hurricane relief. It’s the reason there were two semi trucks collecting non-perishable items for hurricane victims yesterday, with one truck at Three Star Mall and the other at Cumberland Plaza. It’s the reason local residents have opened their doors and allowed hurricane victims into their homes.

There’s been no shortage of generosity in Warren County and throughout the state. For that, we should all be proud.

But TennCare is a different beast, especially with 200,000 state residents being drop-kicked off the program. Gov. Bredesen can’t find a way to offer these people coverage, yet Hurricane Katrina victims are welcomed onto the TennCare rolls with pomp and circumstance.

Bredesen says he doesn’t expect the financial impact of his decision to be significant. The federal government, he says, has indicated it will reimburse states for some of the expense surrounding displaced Gulf Coast residents. However, no one has denied states will be forced to absorb some of the costs.

“Even if it were going to be a big impact, we’re going to do it,” said Bredesen. “This is a place where we can be a strong neighbor.”

Being a strong neighbor is fine and dandy, so long as you provide for everyone in your own home first. It makes no sense to give steak to your neighbors while people in your own kitchen are hungry.

As governor of Tennessee, Bredesen’s concern should be the people of Tennessee. Granted, a natural disaster does bend the rules, but you don’t trample your own people just to help others.

To make matters worse, the governor has said the state will relax its TennCare requirements for evacuees. Since many evacuees may not have bank statements, financial information, or even a photo ID, the state is basically going to accept their word and roll out the TennCare red carpet.

This only invites the type of fraud that has put TennCare in its current financial crisis. People have shown they will go to great lengths to be accepted on TennCare, even if they don’t belong. Imagine the abuse if people don’t have to go to any trouble to be enrolled.

In a perfect world, our society would be able to provide health care coverage to everyone, regardless of their ability to pay. But we don’t live in that perfect world.

We live in a world where 200,000 Tennesseans are on the verge of experiencing life without TennCare. They’ve been told the state can no longer afford it. Yet the state can offer TennCare to people who have lived in Tennessee all of one week. It doesn’t add up.