TennCare Standard Spend Down
TennCare is
having an open enrollment period on Tuesday evening, February 22,
6:00 p.m. Central Time for this eligibility category. Click
here for the state's announcement.
It is
important to note that the ONLY way to request an application for
the TennCare Standard Spend Down Program is through the toll free
number (1-866-358-3230).
Only
2,500 applications will be taken on Feb. 22.
Standard Spend
Down is available for a limited number of low income individuals,
or those with high, unpaid medical bills who are aged, blind, disabled,
or the caretaker relative of a Medicaid eligible child. Eligible
individuals must have enough unpaid medical bills to meet the “spend
down” threshold to qualify for their coverage. Click
here to see if you may be eligible. Click
here for the Spanish version.
To maximize
enrollment, THCC is conducted a conference call on Wednesday,
When this open
enrollment period was conducted on October 4, 2010, 2,666 calls/applications
were taken. This happened in less than 2 hours. Some folks stayed
on line for over 30 minutes before their call was taken. So if you
call in on Feb. 22, call in as early as possible and do not give
up. If you are put on hold, your call will be taken.
From the October
4 enrollment call, 506 people were approved for coverage and another
500 applications are still pending at Disability Determination Services
(DHS) about "disability" standards.
Key information, background on health
care reform:
THCC
and the Institute of Medicine has been working for some time to
get health care for all Americans.
NEW!
Health Care Reform Education & Outreach Section
ACT for health
care justice anytime with the following materials to assist you.
Scroll down to "Messages that Work" to
get the latest, tested messages to overcome objections and to win
hearts and minds.
THCC's
Speakers' Network
 This
new section is geared toward supporters who want to help educate
about the benefits of the new health care law, either by making
presentations and/or helping schedule presentations for THCC. You
will also find helpful materials about the new law in this section.
Tennessee Specific:
How-to's &
Guides:
Tell It, Sell
It
Values
in the new law resonate with all Americans & we must remember
to use them when we write and speak about reform!
1) Accountability for insurance companies
2) Control for consumers
3) Individual responsibility first, then shared responsibility
4) Effective oversight and fairness
5) Peace of mind
FACTS DON'T ALWAYS WIN: While
the new law will strengthen Medicare, create jobs, and reduce
the deficit, the negative misinformation coming from talk
radio, misguided bloggers & some politicians playing to their
base continues to befuddle many Americans. Therefore, be advised
not to pro-actively argue the facts and these important benefits
to audiences that insist their unsubstantiated opinions are accurate.
Messages
that WORK!
The
messages below in the right column have been proven to work in overcoming
objections (left column). Also, use the message in the right column
to write a letter to editor, or post to a blog, or in a presentation.
| Objection |
Message that Overcomes
the Objection |
| Anyone
of any age says to you, "I don't know...I'm not sure
what to think of the new health care reform..."
|
The new health care law requires that members of Congress
get their healthcare coverage from the same plans as millions
of Americans. It will also make healthcare coverage more secure
by ensuring that working families cannot be denied coverage
due to a pre-existing condition, or lose their coverage or
be forced into bankruptcy when someone gets sick. |
| A senior
says to you, "I don't know...I'm not sure what to think
of the new health care reform..." |
The new health reform law requires that members of Congress
get their healthcare coverage from the same plans as millions
of Americans. If it is good enough for members of Congress and
their families, it will be good enough for average Americans.
The plan will also reduce prescription drug costs for seniors
by closing the current coverage gap in Medicare and will give
seniors free yearly check-ups. |
| "I'm
worried that this law really isn't going to do me much good..."
|
The new health care law will lower healthcare costs for everyone
and improve healthcare for women and children by prohibiting
insurers from charging women more than men for the same coverage
and requiring coverage for maternity care. It will also require
insurance companies to cover any child with a pre-existing condition
and allow children to stay on their parents insurance until
they are 26. |
| "Nobody
better touch my Medicare..." |
The new health care law is going to improve your Medicare.
It lowers the costs of prescription drugs for seniors by closing
the coverage gap in Medicare, cuts waste from the system to
ensure that Medicare funds go to improving care, and provides
for annual check-ups so seniors can have better preventive care. |
| "Seems
to me that this reform is just a boon for the insurance companies..." |
Insurance companies spent over five hundred million dollars
opposing healthcare reform because they knew it would hold them
accountable. Reform will require insurance companies to cover
people with pre-existing conditions, ban them from dropping
coverage for people who get sick, crack down on their unjustified
premium hikes, and increase competition among them to help lower
costs. |
| "This
new law is going to make my premiums go up!" |
Reform will help lower the costs of premiums by creating
new competitive markets that will increase competition among
insurance companies.
Insurance companies have been increasing premiums for the
past thirty years in pursuit of bigger profits. Reform will
finally bring light to unjustified premium hikes and help
drive them down.
|
"This
is nothing for a government takeover of my health care!"
"This
is socialism!" |
For years, insurance company bureaucrats decided if treatments
recommended by doctors would be covered. Reform will ensure
that insurance company bureaucrats can
no longer come between you and your doctor. That's not a government
takeover! That's the government of the people watching out
for the people!
Reform holds insurance companies accountable by providing
fair rules and setting high standards. That’s not a
government takeover, that’s government doing what it
is supposed to do—working on behalf of citizens! |
| "I'm
worried this new reform will cost jobs." |
Reform will help to create jobs by allowing small businesses
to band together in new competitive insurance markets, which
will allow them to spend less money on healthcare and invest
more in growing their businesses. |
| "I
think reform should be repealed." |
The public believes we should give reform a chance and make
changes that improve it. Those who support repeal are siding
with insurance companies who want to continue their practices
of premium hikes and denied coverage. |
| "Reform
is going to add to the deficit." |
The independent organization in charge of predicting the cost
of federal legislation estimates that by slowing the growth
in healthcare costs and cutting waste from the current system,
reform will reduce the deficit by over one hundred billion dollars
in the first ten years, and by over a trillion dollars in the
next twenty years. |
| "An
individual mandate is socialism!? |
Just as requiring all Americans to have car insurance protects
other drivers, requiring everyone to have health insurance protects
taxpayers by ensuring that everyone pays their fair share. |
|
