Bredesen calls it quits on TennCare

self

[Ultrconservative]

Just watched Phil Bredesen at a news conference in Nashville.

He announced that begining in January and end in June (July?) of 2005, Tennessee will withdraw from it's TennCare (HillaryCare Lite) Program.

Those that qualify, will transition to the Federal medicare (medicaid) programs and about 435,000 low income citizens will no longer receive free medical insurance from the states' taxpayers.

Bredesen is so pragmatic and practical, it is hard to believe he is a Demoncrat.

[Southack]

TN Governor is manuevering for 2008 Dem Nomination...

[pnz1]

I don't see how we (Tennesseeans) could keep on paying for this program. I'm sure lots of people will be able to get on their employers health plans, but I wonder how many will qualify for Medicaid?

[Phantom Lord]

Government run healthcare a failure? Impossible.

[12 Gauge Mossberg]

Same thing is happenening here in Wisconsin with BadgerCare and SeniorCare.

IF YOU THINK HEALTHCARE IS EXPENSIVE, WAIT UNTIL IT'S FREE!

[comebacknewt]

RINO Taxquist nearly bankrupt TN. Good to see Bredesen do this.

Score one for the RATs.

[12 Gauge Mossberg]

http://www.newschannel5.com/content/news/7814.asp

[mvpel]

Now that government is getting out of the way, there's an excellent opportunity for charities and any doctors that haven't been bankrupted by TennCare in the Volunteer State to step up to the plate and make sure that deserving poor Tenneseeans don't go without basic health care, and do it in a far more efficient manner than government ever could.

[j_k_l]

As a Tennessean, I hope this is true but I fear it is an "Arafat Death".

[tnlibertarian]

Yesterday on the radio, some TennCare advocate was saying that some of the changes that Bredesen proposed to keep the program viable would not pass court challenges. One example was something about kids in Tennessee not having the same access to something (sorry, can't get specific, I was yelling at the radio) that children in the rest of the country could. And that how unfair that was.

Now Bredesen is going to scrap TennCare and go back to Medicaid just like the rest of the country. I guess this falls under the old 'careful what you ask for' file.

This ill-conceived socialist medicine idea was unviable from the get-go. It sucked so much money from the State government that it was simply unsustainable. TennCare proponents would not allow reasonable changes that could save the system (not that I wanted that) so they ended up losing the whole thing.

Good riddance to bad rubbish

[reelfoot]

This is the best news for the Volunteer State since Al Gore left his Senate seat behind. The stake driven into the heart of TennCare will mean hundreds of millions of dollars will be saved by Tennessee taxpayers. It also will mean that the push for a state income tax that we have had to fight off for the last few years will be diminished.

[Ultrconservative]

RINO Taxquist nearly bankrupt TN. Good to see Bredesen do this.

Damn straight, I am realy begining to like Bredesen.

And it's starting to look like Taxquist is just one step away from a fed corruption indictment.

[pnz1]

Unless they say we got rid of Tenncare and there's still a shortfall.

[AmishDude]

BadgerCare

Is that where your mom takes care of you?

[GailA]

Should have done it last year. Those dratted sue happy 'protectors' of the little people wouldn't let him fix it. Just kept suing to keep the BMW model they have. Only way to stop the lawsuits is dump entire program.

[FormerRep]

Here is the text of an email the Gov sent to State Employees:

---

Today I am announcing that the State of Tennessee has set in motion a process to dissolve TennCare, the state’s financially troubled $7.8 billion health care plan, pending final discussions with public-interest attorneys standing in the way of reform efforts. The process will replace TennCare with a traditional Medicaid program similar to what’s currently offered in more than 40 other states. TennCare is a noble and worthwhile initiative that has made significant contributions to public health in Tennessee. Over the past year, we’ve made every possible effort to preserve the program. But persistent lawsuits have tied our hands. The sad reality is - we can’t afford TennCare in its current form. It pains me to set this process in motion, but I won’t let TennCare bankrupt our State. This is the option of last resort. I have instructed the Bureau of TennCare and the Department of Human Services, which provides customer service to TennCare enrollees, to prepare a plan for orderly transition to Medicaid. No enrollee will lose coverage overnight and we will give as much advance notice as possible. The process of notifying TennCare enrollees of changes will begin in early January and the conversion to Medicaid is expected to be completed in mid-2005. As many as 430,000 enrollees (out of a total of 1.3 million) could lose health coverage. I will tell you: There still is a faint glimmer of hope of finding legal relief and averting this action. Late yesterday, Gordon Bonnyman, executive director of the Justice Center, sent me a letter asking for an additional seven days to consider the State’s request for wholesale modifications to the decrees. What I told him was this: The process to return to Medicaid is not yet irreversible. But it will be soon. We will continue to prepare for it. But unless we reach a substantive agreement to modify the consent decrees within one week, the transition to Medicaid cannot be stopped. I will inform you of the outcome of these final efforts. I want to thank all of you who have participated in the TennCare transformation task force and to ask for your continued support. Our work is not done. While the probable outcome is not what we have been working toward, your work will improve our future program efforts and greatly benefit our state. I would also like to say to all of you who work with TennCare enrollees that I know the days and months ahead will not be easy and I appreciate the care, compassion and professionalism you will bring to your work. It is vitally important to all Tennesseans that we make this likely transition as orderly, clear and compassionate as possible. I have every confidence in you. While these changes will be difficult, they are necessary to ensure that we can provide all of the services vital to our state, including education, job creation and health care. Working together, we will continue the progress in Tennessee. Thank you for your efforts on behalf of all Tennesseans.

[Ultrconservative]

Thanks for posting the Email, straight from the horses mouth.

Here's another article I've stumbled across
http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/n...004-398097.html

[reelfoot]

Thanks for posting Bredesen's e-mail. The tentative nature of the language he uses indicates he's calling the bluff of the "public interest advocacy groups" who've tried to further lard up TennCare. From the initial news report, I had hoped that Bredesen's announcement was iron clad--that the program would definitely be terminated. Apparently it's not. Here's hoping no deal can be reached with the left-wing groups and this experiment in socialized medicine will soon be put to rest.

[Mike Fieschko]

From the Gov's office: STATE MOVES TOWARD MEDICAID ‘PERSISTENT LAWSUITS’ BLOCK TENNCARE REFORM EFFORT:

NASHVILLE — Governor Phil Bredesen today announced the State of Tennessee has set in motion a process to dissolve TennCare, the state’s financially troubled $7.8 billion healthcare plan, pending final discussions with public-interest attorneys. The process will replace TennCare with a traditional Medicaid program similar to what’s currently offered in more than 40 other states.

“TennCare is a noble and worthwhile initiative that has made significant contributions to public health in Tennessee,” Bredesen said. “Over the past year, we’ve made every possible effort to preserve the program. But persistent lawsuits have tied our hands. The sad reality is, we can’t afford TennCare in its current form. It pains me to set this process in motion, but I won’t let TennCare bankrupt our State. This is the option of last resort.”

This morning, Bredesen instructed the Bureau of TennCare and the Department of Human Services, which provides customer service to TennCare enrollees, to prepare a plan for orderly transition to Medicaid. “No enrollee will lose coverage overnight,” the Governor said. “We will give as much advance notice as possible.” The process of notifying TennCare enrollees of changes will begin in early January and the conversion to Medicaid is expected to be completed in mid-2005. As many as 430,000 enrollees, out of a total of 1.3 million enrolled, could lose health coverage.

More at link.

[oyez]

"Arafat Death".

That means that it keeps coming back to life, but when it does pass away a lot of money is still going to be "missing."