Judge rules depositions can begin in TennCare lawsuit

NASHVILLE (AP) — A federal judge has ruled that depositions in a class-action lawsuit against TennCare can go forward this week.

Questions that can be included in the depositions concern Gov. Phil Bredesen’s reform plan for TennCare that will affect the care of an estimated 600,000 children, U.S. District Judge John Nixon said in a three-page court order released Monday.

One enrollee advocacy group, the Tennessee Justice Center, argued that Bredesen’s proposed reforms would put the state out of compliance with a 1998 settlement ensuring children on TennCare have access to medical care.

TennCare provides health care coverage for about 1.3 million Tennesseans who are poor, uninsured or disabled. The program’s budget for next year is $7.8 billion, with about $2.5 billion coming from state taxpayers.

A consultant’s study projected that without reform TennCare costs could take 80 percent of the state’s new tax revenue within five years.

“The judge’s order speaks for itself,” Michele Johnson, an attorney with the Tennessee Justice Center, said of Nixon’s decision.

Nixon also ruled that internal deliberations on policy by Bredesen administration officials do not have to be disclosed.

TennCare spokesman Michael Drescher said Nixon’s ruling “recognizes the importance of protecting the state’s internal deliberations as we consider options for reforms to TennCare program.”

Lawyers for the state last week argued that depositions in the case are not needed because the TennCare reforms have not yet been approved by the federal government.

Oral arguments in the case are scheduled to begin Aug. 9.

The Tennessee Justice Center filed a contempt motion in May against the state alleging Tennessee has not followed terms of a 1998 settlement of the John B. v. Goetz lawsuit filed the same year. The suit claimed TennCare did not comply with federal Medicaid laws governing the type of care required for children.

Bredesen’s proposed reforms would rein in costs by limiting benefits, most notably on prescription drugs and some co-payments. Projected savings are $2.5 billion during the next four years.
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On the Net:
TennCare Bureau: http://www.state.tn.us/tenncare
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Information from: Chattanooga Times Free Press, http://www.timesfreepress.com