TennCare Dance

Commercial Appeal ^ | November 15, 2004 | COLIN FLY

[Woodworker]

TennCare advocates back off court wins in effort to save program

Bredesen says he wants to examine "good-faith" offer

By COLIN FLY Associated Press Writer November 15, 2004

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Gov. Phil Bredesen said Monday it appears the advocates for TennCare enrollees have made a good-faith effort to save the health care program, but he wants to scrutinize the details of their offer.

The Tennessee Justice Center filed papers to put off for two years the effects of a series of federal court settlements so Bredesen can implement his reform proposal to control sharply rising costs in the expanded Medicaid program.

Bredesen thanked Gordon Bonnyman, a lawyer Tennessee Justice Center, but said he needed more time to make sure the document contained no surprises.

"I don't think there's any trickery involved; there's just details that need to be worked out."

Last week, Bredesen blamed a series of court settlements Bonnyman's group has won against the state with forcing him to begin to dismantle TennCare, a $7.8 billion health care program for 1.3 million Tennesseans who are poor, disabled or uninsured..."I will go to almost any length to make this work," he said. "I feel an enormous obligation to the 400,000 Tennesseans who need our help."

"Only a bold, unilateral step like we've taken now could pull us back from the brink," Bonnyman said in a news conference on the state Capitol steps.

In return for halting the court settlements, Bonnyman said, the state would have to keep on the rolls some 430,000 people who would lose coverage if TennCare is ended and replaced with traditional Medicaid...

[Woodworker]

Having been invited to the dance by the Governor, Bonnyman accepts.

[Blood of Tyrants]

I have to hand it to the Democrat gov. I never thought he would pull the plug. Bonnyman was such a prick before and now he is being force to play nice.

For those who don't know, Bonnyman's group was responsible for several lawsuits that were bankrupting Tenncare.

One lawsuit prevented patients from having to accept a much cheaper generic drug over a trademark name.

Another suit prevented the legislature from imposing a co-pay charge on office visits and prescriptions.

Another suit prevented the legislature from imposing restrictions on the number of prescriptions a person could get (the AVERAGE TennCare patient got THREE times as many prescriptions annually as Medicaid patients).

And yet ANOTHER bit of insanity, TennCare was forced to provide a rental care so that an heroin addict could have transportation to the methadone clinic!

And those are but a few.

[MonroeDNA]

Hillary care.

[The Raven]

Whoops - I thought it was gone (TennCare).....now he's examining a bailout? What gives?

[meyer]

As a Tennessee resident, let me be the first to say "scrap Tenncare". Its a monetary sinkhole, and should be the poster child for why the government should stay out of the health care business.