Free Republic

NASHVILLE - Tennessee has prevailed in its dispute with the federal government over more than a half-billion dollars in health-care funds, freeing up the state to rescind its planned "hard limits" on TennCare patient visits, Gov. Phil Bredesen announced Wednesday. The federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services on Tuesday evening exhausted its appeals in an attempt to recover $550 million from Tennessee's defunct nursing home bed tax. Under that 1992-2001 plan, the state had levied a bed tax on nursing homes, used the revenue to leverage federal matching funds, and then gave the nursing home residents a rebate. The...

NASHVILLE -- A federal judge who has presided over a case against the state of Tennessee for its treatment of children during TennCare cuts has recused himself from the case, saying that the state's efforts to remove him from the case could harm children's health care. U.S. District Judge John Nixon has presided over the children's portion of the TennCare case since 1998, and found in 2001 that the state had failed to meet court orders and federal requirements on their care. State attorneys had been seeking to remove Nixon from the case in the past year, saying that he...

NASHVILLE - TennCare will resume accepting some of the state's sickest patients earlier than expected and will offer more generous eligibility guidelines, Gov. Phil Bredesen announced Tuesday. The governor has cut 191,000 people from the TennCare rolls and reduced benefits for thousands of others to control costs in the $8.7 billion program. He earlier said he would keep 97,000 "medically needy" adults on the program if the state got relief from a 1999 agreement with legal advocates for Tenn-Care patients. A federal judge has granted most of that relief. On Tuesday, Bredesen said the TennCare reforms mean the medically needy...

CHATTANOOGA - The Bureau of TennCare has been contacted by state and federal investigators, but officials aren't elaborating on what's being probed. "While we have reason to believe TennCare is not the focal point, the bureau has been contacted by the TBI and FBI," spokeswoman Marilyn Elam told the Chattanooga Times Free Press on Thursday. "We are fully cooperating with their investigation." A federal grand jury has been looking into the relationship between former Sen. John Ford and TennCare contractors Doral Dental and Omnicare. Earlier this year, the Memphis Democrat triggered a legislative review when it was discovered the companies...

CHATTANOOGA — A federal court order expanding the state's power to restrict TennCare pharmacy benefits likely means all 97,000 medically needy enrollees can stay on the health care program, Gov. Phil Bredesen said Thursday. "It looks positive to being able to keep all the most medically needy people on the rolls," the governor said during a stop here to promote his prekindergarten program. Bredesen said he expected to decide the fate of the medically needy, among the sickest patients with high medical bill, early next week after administration officials finish evaluating a ruling clarification issued Wednesday by U.S. District Court...

NASHVILLE - A federal judge issued a partial ruling Thursday that gives the state some authority to modify a key consent decree that governs the TennCare program. U.S. District Judge John Nixon approved two main changes to the expanded Medicaid program: The state can require prior authorization for prescription drugs, and it can limit prescriptions to five per month. But Nixon's order said the "court reserves ruling on whether the state may deny any claim for reimbursement for a drug for which prior authorization is required but has not been obtained." In the case of prescription limitation, the judge ordered...

NASHVILLE - Roughly two-dozen TennCare enrollees and advocates occupied the entrance to Gov. Phil Bredesen's office Monday, demanding that he change his mind on plans to cut the expanded Medicaid program. The group wanted an audience with the governor, but Bredesen was in East Tennessee talking about his economic development plans. A spokesman for the governor promised the group would be allowed to stay so long as they remained orderly and didn't interfere with workers. Arrangements were made to let the group stay overnight. "This is a public building," said Bob Corney, the governor's communications director. He said the protesters...

NASHVILLE - A big stack of documents produced by state investigators paints a picture of TennCare contractors more willing to spin the truth than divulge ties to Sen. John Ford. One contractor linked to Ford, Doral Dental, said earlier this year that it wasn't aware of any improper links to Ford. But it was later revealed that Ford held meetings with the company's highest-ranking officers, and the company sought to keep the arrangement secret. Doral blamed executives no longer with the company. It took multiple requests, along with a state attorney general's investigation, to get another contractor that had a...

NASHVILLE — A federal appeals court panel has approved Tennessee’s procedures for kicking people off TennCare, the state’s expanded Medicaid program. The ruling, which overturns a lower court decision, means the state does not have to hold a hearing for each TennCare recipient before removing them from the program. A three-judge panel of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments in Columbus, Ohio, on Tuesday and handed down a decision Friday. The court said decisions on how to run TennCare were up to the elected officials in Tennessee, "so long as the State’s disenrollment process satisfies the requirement...

THE STENCH IN TENNESSEE By Michelle Malkin   ·   May 26, 2005 02:33 PM Hot political story of the day is out of the Volunteer State. Huge FBI corruption sting--dubbed "Operation Tennessee Waltz"--has resulted in the arrest of four state legislators, including the uncle of recently announced Dem U.S. Senate candidate Harold Ford. State legislator John Ford apparently threatened to kill an undercover FBI agent. (Indictments posted in full at Newschannel 5.) Another arrested was state legislator Kathryn Bowers, chairman of the Memphis-area Democratic Party.There's one Republican in the bunch. More arrests expected.

NASHVILLE - A federal appeals court has paved the way for the state to start cutting TennCare rolls, once again ruling in favor of Gov. Phil Bredesen's reform plans. The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati decided Friday to intervene in the state's fight with a federal judge over plans to overhaul the TennCare program and cut enrollment. "We're gratified the appeals court acted swiftly in approving our request," Bredesen said in a statement. "This ruling allows us to continue on a fiscally responsible course to gain control of the TennCare program and pass a balanced budget." A...

NASHVILLE - A federal appeals court ruled Tuesday that state officials do not need a judge's approval to drop 323,000 adults from Tennessee's expanded Medicaid program. A three-judge panel of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said in a ruling issued from Cincinnati that a federal judge overstepped his authority in January when he blocked the state from making the cuts. Gov. Phil Bredesen wanted to cut the rolls to save money on the $8 billion TennCare program, and he got approval last month from the federal government, which pays two-thirds of the bill. TennCare recipients went to court...

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - A lawyer challenging proposed cuts from the state's expanded Medicaid program contends that the governor mismanaged the $8 billion program. Marking the start of a case Monday that could dictate the state's spending priorities, Gordon Bonnyman of the Tennessee Justice Center, said that Gov. Phil Bredesen has failed in the "day-to-day management" of the health care program. The state argued that keeping the program, TennCare, intact would require $650 million more in spending - requiring deep cuts in almost every other budget area. "This embarrassing reality dawned on public officials two years into taking office on the...

ASHVILLE - The federal government Thursday approved the first phase of the state's plan to restructure TennCare, agency officials said. TennCare spokesmen said the approval by the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services allows the state to move ahead with efforts to cut TennCare enrollment. However, the reductions remain under court challenge. Dave Goetz, commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Finance, said the approval "is an important step in our efforts to gain financial control of TennCare." His department oversees TennCare, an expanded Medicaid program for 1.3 million enrollees. Gov. Phil Bredesen has proposed cutting 323,000 people from TennCare...

At 11 a.m. on Wednesday, February 23, on the South Steps of the California State Capitol, State Senator Sheila Kuehl (D-23) announced her introduction of SB 840 the California Health Insurance Reliability Act (CHIRA) to the California Legislature. Senate Pro Tempore Don Perata has joined as a co-author as have Senator Deborah Ortiz, chair of the Senate Health Committee and Assemblymember Wilma Chan, chair of the Assembly Health Committee who are both principle co-authors. The bill will cover every Californian with comprehensive health insurance and guarantee their right to choose their own physician, while containing healthcare cost inflation. By slashing...

TennCare reform delay could prove costly to state  Barger Brian, Producer   Last Updated: 2/7/2005 9:02:15 AM A six month delay in reforming TennCare could cost the state nearly half of the $575 million officials have said they expect to save and balance next year's budget. That's according to an affidavit filed with a federal appeals court last week. The filing came after a judge in Nashville ruled the state cannot implement the planned reforms to the government-subsidized health care program without his approval. The judge said hearings will be set for March to work through that issue. In...

NASHVILLE - The state wants to remove the longtime legal advocate for TennCare enrollees as part of Gov. Phil Bredesen's push to dramatically cut the number of poor, disabled and uninsured on the government-subsidized health-care program. Gordon Bonnyman, executive director of the Tennessee Justice Center, represents the 1.3 million people on TennCare and has clashed repeatedly with Bredesen over his plans to curtail the program's ballooning costs. State lawyers told a federal judge Friday that they will ask that Nashville attorney George Barrett instead represent TennCare enrollees. Bonnyman said the governor thinks he will have an easier time negotiating with...

WASHINGTON - TennCare advocates want the federal government to help patch up the state's expanded Medicaid program, but Tennessee's Republican senators say the solution won't come from Washington. Opponents of Gov. Phil Bredesen's plan to limit coverage and cut 323,000 people from TennCare rolls have argued that Tennessee should ask the federal government for more money. But Sens. Bill Frist and Lamar Alexander said the prospects of financial aid are slim, and the TennCare problems need to be solved at home. "The answer absolutely must come from Tennessee," said Frist. The state created TennCare in 1994 by expanding the Medicaid...

NASHVILLE -- A judge Friday blocked Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen from removing 323,000 adults from the state's expanded Medicaid program, cuts the governor says are necessary to keep the roughly $8 billion program from bankrupting the state. The state said it was immediately appealing U.S. District Court Judge William J. Haynes' decision to the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. "The federal courts do not have the right nor the power to dictate the fiscal policy of the state of Tennessee," Dave Goetz, state finance and administration commissioner, said in a news release. "This is an emotional and difficult enough...

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...