Governor announces extensions to TennCare Safety Net
“Good management has led us to a place where we can extend medical assistance programs for the benefit of our neighbors in need,” Bredesen said in a press release. “We have worked very hard to get TennCare under control and now the efforts are bearing fruit.”
The governor has cut about 180,000 people from the TennCare rolls and reduced benefits for thousands of others to control costs in the $8 billion public health care program.
To soften the blow, the state appropriated $104 million for a safety-net program that provides transitional medical assistance to former TennCare patients, especially those suffering from chronic illnesses such as cancer and diabetes.
Since the changes, Bredesen has gradually strengthened the safety net.
Nursing services were scheduled to end this month and cuts in TennCare doctor visits, hospital stays and other non-pharmacy services were originally scheduled to take effect on Jan. 1. All that has now changed.
Bredesen said TennCare Director J.D. Hickey “has assured me that TennCare’s budget is on track and that we can manage under the existing program for six more months.”
The governor said he plans to do more to help those cut from the rolls, as well as the 580,000 Tennesseans who have never had insurance.
“I intend to fight hard both to improve TennCare in the coming year and to extend access to care under different programs to hundreds of thousands of Tennesseans who do not qualify for TennCare and who have no insurance coverage.”
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For more information on the Tennessee Safety Net and other services call 1-888-486-9355, or visit http://www.TNHealthOptions.com.