Source: Bredesen increasingly less likely to eliminate TennCare
NASHVILLE — Gov. Phil Bredesen was in Washington on Thursday to discuss his TennCare reform plan with federal officials, but a source told The Associated Press it’s becoming less likely that the governor will kill the health care program.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, a government official familiar with the talks in Washington said the conversation was not about killing TennCare and returning to basic Medicaid.
Instead, Bredesen is seeking approval from the federal government for a modification of his original proposal to reform the program for the poor, disabled and uninsured.
Lawmakers, returning to the Capitol on Tuesday, say they hope to find out soon how the governor plans to save hundreds of millions of dollars in TennCare’s mushrooming costs.
Late last year, Bredesen announced he was cutting TennCare altogether and returning to basic Medicaid as predictions for its future price tag increased to near $10 billion. He said lawsuits were hampering his reform plans.
But he later backed off and entered into talks with legal advocates who have won several lawsuits against the state and forced it into consent decrees dictating how Tennessee would run parts of the expanded Medicaid program. Bredesen said he needed those advocates to agree with his plan instead.
Those advocates say they have had little contact recently with the governor and have not reached an agreement on his reform plan.
Civil rights lawyer George Barrett, who has intervened in the legal wrangling on behalf of the 430,000 enrollees who stand to be cut with a return to basic Medicaid, has said he is still in talks with the governor.
Bredesen was in Washington on Thursday talking with Mark McClellan, administrator of the federal Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
The agency needs to approve changes to the original waivers that set up TennCare because the federal government picks up about two-thirds of the program’s cost.
“It was a good discussion,” said Gary Karr, spokesman for the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services. “The governor and Dr. McClellan have a good working relationship.”
The governor’s office didn’t offer any detail on the conversation.
“The governor is there to discuss alternatives for TennCare in the absence of legal relief from some TennCare advocates,” said Lydia Lenker, press secretary to Bredesen.
Bredesen’s original reform proposal sought to keep nearly all enrollees on the plan, while saving money with a reduction in some benefits.
An attorney who works with Barrett said the governor is exploring a number of options.
“I think it’s fair to say that the governor is leaving no stone unturned in his attempts to preserve TennCare as much as is possible,” said Ted Carey. “We generally support the governor’s effort to find some solution to this.”