Monday, January 10, 2005
TennCare Lives!!!
From the Nashville Tennessean:TennCare preserved but scaled back, governor says:
The Governor's own web site has more, including something for the citizens of "fairyland"
It will be entertaining to see how this plays out, how a statewide medical plan cuts benefits to maintain solvency.
Will it be a floor or a ceiling? |
From the Nashville Tennessean:TennCare preserved but scaled back, governor says:
Gov. Phil Bredesen announced today that he has preserved the TennCare program for the poor and uninsurable.
The program will be scaled back, from 1.3 million users to about 1 million. But that scaling back will affect only adults – children have been spared removal from TennCare's rolls, he said.
''This is a huge victory on behalf of Tennessee's children,'' Bredesen said.
TennCare is a state plan that expands on the federal Medicaid program. Adults in that expanded population will no longer get service, Bredesen said. But about 612,000 children now covered will continue to be covered, he said.
Bredesen criticized advocates and lawyers for patients for not accepting fiscal reality for the past two months, saying they are ''living in a fairyland'' in insisting on the kind of coverage Tennessee now provides.
The Governor's own web site has more, including something for the citizens of "fairyland"
The plan for “basic TennCare” preserves full coverage for all 612,000 children on the program and maintains a reasonable level of benefits for 396,000 adults who are eligible for Medicaid, the state and federal program for individuals and families with low incomes. As many as 323,000 adults who are not eligible for Medicaid will lose TennCare coverage — although 24% of those enrollees still will be covered under Medicare, the federal program for people who are older or who have disabilities. The State still could maintain limited care for some enrollees losing coverage if it succeeds in challenging legal constraints that public-interest attorneys have placed on the program over the years.
It will be entertaining to see how this plays out, how a statewide medical plan cuts benefits to maintain solvency.
Will it be a floor or a ceiling? |
