TennCare director says state seeking options to nursing home care

NASHVILLE — TennCare Director J.D. Hickey told a legislative committee on Monday that the state is doing what it can to provide options for people who don’t want to live in a nursing home.

Hickey and several other officials updated the TennCare Oversight Committee on changes to the state’s health care program since Gov. Phil Bredesen cut 191,000 adults from the rolls and reduced benefits for thousands of others last year to control costs.

As they met, however, about 500 disabled people — most of them in wheelchairs — rallied outside the state Capitol to protest the lack of community services offered to people in Tennessee who would prefer not to go to a nursing home or other institution.

The protesters blocked several streets in downtown Nashville, holding up traffic during the afternoon rush hour.

Mark Johnson, a spokesman for ADAPT, a national advocate for community service care, said Tennessee’s “long-term care system needs major reform.”

“Most of the money goes to institutions,” Johnson said. “Most people that need long-term care don’t have a choice of getting that in their own homes.”

Hickey, however, said the state is taking steps to get federal approval for in-home services.

“We’ve already made a request to expand available slots,” Hickey said after the meeting. “We’re now going to present a waiver to expand services.”