TennCare Alert - May 22

Twenty-five state legislators met today, Sunday, May 21, in a joint meeting between the State Senate and House Finance Committees. It did not appear that restoring coverage for 40,000 very sick and needy people was on their agenda. We cannot let this stand. We have got to take immediate action.

They were told that there is between $170 to $200 million new state dollars for the coming year. The governor says that he wants to spend about $135 million and the legislators can spend the rest. The governor and legislators priorities are about creating financial incentives to bring the movie industry to Tennessee ($20 million), budgeting more dollars for higher education to keep tuition low ($34 million), creating incentives for state employees to take the bus ($2 million), restore highway fund ($22 million). By the way, there was no talk about restoring health insurance for 40,000 very sick people who were cut off last year, but it looks like they are going to restore $22 million in road money.

I was outraged. Are you? What are you going to do about this? Are you going to just let this happen? You must take action. Call your legislator today! Ask to speak with them personally. Stress that you expect them to provide sufficient funding to cover 40,000 people. Remind them that they have cut off 225,000 this last year.

On top of this, the governor wants to reduce TennCare's base funding by $41 million. In addition, state will be putting $150 million dollars into the rainy day fund, bringing the rainy day fund to $500 million, the largest single deposit into the rainy day fund in the history of the state. $125 million of the $150 million for the Rainy Day Fund will come out of TennCare savings that have happened because of people being cut.

Our governor and many state legislators are out of touch with the needs of the people whom they serve. We have got to send a strong message. We need lots of people sending this message: "People's lives are more important than road or movies or higher education. Is there anything more important?"

Funding decisions most likely will be made by Senate and House members of the Finance Ways and Means committee on Monday and Tuesday. Their names, counties their serve, their legislative phone and fax numbers with emails are below. The counties represented by legislators on the Finance committees are written in RED.

Counties - Anderson, Blount, Bradley, Cannon. Carroll, Cheatham, Chester, Claiborne, Crockett, Davidson, Decatur, Dickson, Dyer, Fayette, Franklin, Giles, Grainger, Hamilton, Hancock, Hardeman, Hardin, Haywood, Hawkins, Henderson, Hickman, Houston, Humphreys, Jefferson, Johnson, Knox, Lake, Lauderdale, Lawrence, Lewis, Lincoln, Loudon, Madison, Marion, Marshall, McMinn, McNairy, Meigs, Monroe, Montgomery, Moore, Montgomery, Obion, Polk, Putnam, Robertson, Rutherford, Shelby, Sullivan, Sumner, Tipton, Trousdale, Union, Warren, Wayne, Weakley, White, Williamson and Wilson.

State Senators:.

Senator Tim Burchett, S07, (Part of Knox county), Leg. # 1-800-449-8366 Ext. 11766, Fax 615-741-7200, sen.tim.burchett@legislature.state.tn.us
Senator Ward Crutchfield, S10, (Parts of Hamilton and Marion counties), Leg. # 1-800-449-8366 Ext. 16682, Fax 615-741-2886, sen.ward.crutchfield@legislature.state.tn.us
Senator Joe Haynes, S20, (Part of Davidson county), 1-800-449-8366 Ext. 16679, Fax 615-741-2533, sen.joe.haynes@legislature.state.tn.us
Senator Douglas Henry, Jr., S21, (Part of Davidson county), 1-800-449-8366 Ext. 13291, Fax 615-741-2380, sen.douglas.henry@legislature.state.tn.us
Senator Douglas Jackson, S25, (Dickson, Giles, Hickman, Humphreys, Lawrence, and Lewis counties), 1-800-449-8366 Ext. 14499, Fax 615-741-4324,sen.doug.jackson@legislature.state.tn.us
Senator Rosalind Kurita, S22, (Cheatham, Houston, and Montgomery counties), 1-800-449-8366 Ext. 12374, Fax 615-741-0605, sen.rosalind.kurita@legislature.state.tn.us
Senator James Kyle, Jr., S28, (Part of Shelby county), 1-800-449-8366 Ext. 14167, Fax 615-253-0221, sen.jim.kyle@legislature.state.tn.us
Senator Randy McNally, III, S05, (Anderson, Loudon, Monroe and part of Knox counties), 1-800-449-8366 Ext. 16806, Fax 615-741-7200, sen.randy.mcnally@legislature.state.tn.us
Senator Jeff Miller, S09, (Bradley, McMinn, Meigs, and Polk counties), 1-800-449-8366 Ext. 13794, Fax 615-741-7200, sen.jeff.miller@legislature.state.tn.us
Senator Ron Ramsey, S02, (Johnson and Sullivan counties),1-800-449-8366 Ext. 14524, Fax 615-741-7200, sen.ron.ramsey@legislature.state.tn.us
Senator John Wilder, S26, (Chester, Crockett, Fayette, Hardeman, Hardin, Haywood, McNairy and Wayne counties), 1-800-449-8366 Ext. 12368, Fax 615-741-9349, lt.gov.john.wilder@legislature.state.tn.us
Senator Mike Williams, S04, (Claiborne, Grainger, Hancock, Hawkins, Jefferson, and Union counties), 1-800-449-8366 Ext. 12061, Fax 615-253-0286, sen.micheal.williams@legislature.state.tn.us

House of Representatives:

Representative Joseph Armstrong, H15, (Part of Knox county), 1-800-449-8366 Ext. 10768, Fax 615-741-6227, rep.joe.armstrong@legislature.state.tn.us
Representative Stratton Bone,Jr., H46, (Cannon, Trousdale and part of Wilson counties), 1-800-449-8366 Ext. 17086, Fax 615-741-2405, rep.stratton.bone@legislature.state.tn.us
Representative Robert Briley, H52, (Part of Davidson county), 1-800-449-8366 Ext. 12184, Fax 615-532-8221, rep.rob.briley@legislature.state.tn.us
Representative Tommie Brown, H28, (Part of Hamilton county), 1-800-449-8366 Ext. 14374, Fax 615-253-0203, rep.tommie.brown@legislature.state.tn.us
Representative Kent Coleman, H49, (Part of Rutherford county), 1-800-449-8366 Ext. 16829, Fax 615-253-0195, rep.kent.coleman@legislature.state.tn.us
Representative Charles Curtiss, H43, (White and parts of Putnam and Warren counties), 1-800-449-8366 Ext. 11963, Fax 615-741-1963, rep.charles.curtiss@legislature.state.tn.us
Representative Gene Davidson, H66, (Part of Robertson county),1-800-449-8366 Ext. 13979, Fax 615-741-2405, rep.eugene.davidson@legislature.state.tn.us
Representative Bill Dunn, H16, (Part of Knox county), 1-800-449-8366 Ext. 11721, Fax 615-741-0704, rep.bill.dunn@legislature.state.tn.us
Representative Craig Fitzhugh, H82, (Lauderdale, Crockett and part of Dyer counties), 1-800-449-8366 Ext. 12134, Fax 615-741-1446, rep.craig.fitzhugh@legislature.state.tn.us
Representative Joe Fowlkes, H65, (Giles and Marshall counties), 1-800-449-8366 Ext. 11864, Fax 615-741-1041, rep.joe.fowlkes@legislature.state.tn.us
Representative George Fraley, H39, (Franklin, Moore, and part of Lincoln counties), 1-800-449-8366 Ext. 18695, Fax 615-532-8221, rep.george.fraley@legislature.state.tn.us
Representative Tre’ Hargett, H97, (Part of Shelby county), 1-800-449-8366 Ext. 18201, Fax 615-741-1005, rep.tre.hargett@legislature.state.tn.us
Representative Jere Hargrove, H42, (Putnam county), 1-800-449-8366 Ext. 11875, Fax 615-741-1041, rep.jere.hargrove@legislature.state.tn.us
Representative Michael Harrison, H09, (Hancock, and part of Hawkins counties), 1-800-449-8366 Ext. 17480, Fax 615-253-0210, rep.michael.harrison@legislature.state.tn.us
Representative Beth Harwell, H56, (Part of Davidson county), 1-800-449-8366 Ext. 10709, Fax 615-741-4917, rep.beth.harwell@legislature.state.tn.us
Representative John Hood, H48, (Part of Rutherford county), 1-800-449-8366 Ext. 17849, Fax 615-741-7535, rep.john.hood@legislature.state.tn.us
Representative Mark Maddox, H76, (Weakley and part of Carroll counties), 1-800-449-8366 Ext. 17847, Fax 615-253-0293, rep.mark.maddox@legislature.state.tn.us
Representative Steve McDaniel, H72, (Henderson, Chester and parts of Decatur and Wayne counties), 1-800-449-8366 Ext. 10750, Fax 615-253-0214, rep.steve.mcdaniel@legislature.state.tn.us
Representative Michael McDonald, H44, (Part of Sumner county), 1-800-449-8366 Ext. 11980, Fax 615-741-1041, rep.michael.mcdonald@legislature.state.tn.us
Representative Bob McKee, H23, (McMinn and part of Monroe counties), 1-800-449-8366 Ext. 11946, Fax 615-253-0209, rep.bob.mckee@legislature.state.tn.us
Representative Kim McMillan, H67, (Montgomery county), 1-800-449-8366 Ext. 12043, Fax 615-741-7531, rep.kim.mcmillan@legislature.state.tn.us
Representative Larry Miller, H88, (Part of Shelby county), 1-800-449-8366 Ext. 14453, Fax 615-741-1041, rep.larry.miller@legislature.state.tn.us
Representative James Naifeh, H81, (Haywood and part of Tipton counties), 1-800-449-8366 Ext. 13774, Fax 615-741-0944, speaker.jimmy.naifeh@legislature.state.tn.us
Representative Gary Odom, H55, (Part of Davidson county) 1-800-449-8366 Ext. 14410, Fax 615-253-0202, rep.gary.odom@legislature.state.tn.us
Representative Doug Overbey, H20, (Part of Blount county) 1-800-449-8366 Ext. 10981, Fax 615-253-0224, rep.doug.overbey@legislature.state.tn.us
Representative Phillip Pinion, H77, (Obion, Lake, and part of Dyer counties), 1-800-449-8366 Ext. 10718, Fax 615-741-1005, rep.phillip.pinion@legislature.state.tn.us
Representative Randy Rinks, H71, (Hardin, McNairy and part of Decatur counties), 1-800-449-8366 Ext. 12007, Fax 615-741-1041, rep.randy.rinks@legislature.state.tn.us
Representative Dennis Roach, H35, (Claiborne, Grainger and part of Jefferson counties), 1-800-449-8366 Ext. 12534, Fax 615-532-8221, rep.dennis.roach@legislature.state.tn.us
Representative Charles Sargent, H61, (Part of Williamson county), 1-800-449-8366 Ext. 16808, Fax 615-253-0217, rep.charles.sargent@legislature.state.tn.us
Representative Johnny Shaw, H80, (Hardeman and part of Madison counties), 1-800-449-8366 Ext. 14538, Fax 615-741-1446, rep.johnny.shaw@legislature.state.tn.us
Representative Janis Baird Sontany, H53, (Part of Davidson county), 1-800-449-8366 Ext. 16861, Fax 615-741-1041, rep.janis.sontany@legislature.state.tn.us
Representative Harry Tindell, H13, (Part of Knox county), 1-800-449-8366 Ext. 12031, Fax 615-741-1984, rep.harry.tindell@legislature.state.tn.usor harrytindell@aol.com
Representative Nathan Vaughn, H02, (Part of Sullivan county), 1-800-449-8366 Ext. 16867, Fax 615-741-5107, rep.nathan.vaughn@legislature.state.tn.us

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A few last thoughts: For too long, our elected officials have allowed corporate interests (on which they depend for re-election) to dominate public policy at the expense of people whom the public sector was originally intended to serve. Private health insurance companies have been allowed to profit obscenely by excluding sick people from coverage ("cherry picking"), due in part to the deregulation of commercial insurance.  Increasingly, state and federal governments (controlled by corporate interests through members of both political parties), are trying to model public health programs on private health plans that succeeded financially only by shifting costs to the public sector. But, of course, the public sector has nowhere to shift its costs except onto the backs of the poorest and sickest citizens, who have nowhere else to go for help.

The primary concern of the General Assembly and the Governor is clearly private profits, not the public welfare. This is an old story in the history of American capitalism, but the exploitation of vulnerable people to line the pockets of the affluent hasn't been this flagrant since before the Great Depression.  It's time we held them accountable to the public will! 

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Tony Garr • TN Health Care Campaign