National Studies and National Groups speaking out:

 

What Oregon tried to do that did not work:

In July 2004, Oregon changed its program and thousands of people lost their coverage. Click here to read the Kaiser Study.

 

New Studies Examine the Implications of Cuts in Public Health Coverage Programs, Jan. 2006 http://www.kff.org/medicaid/kcmu011006pkg.cfm

The Health Affairs study, “Medicaid/SCHIP Cuts And Hospital Emergency Department Use” commissioned by the Foundation’s Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured (KCMU) with additional support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, finds that Medicaid and SCHIP eligibility cuts would increase emergency department visits by the uninsured, suggesting that cost containment actions on public coverage programs would shift costs to hospital uncompensated care. An interview of study author Peter Cunningham conducted by Jackie Judd of the Foundation is also available. The study and other pertinent materials can be found at: http://www.kff.org/medicaid/kcmu011006pkg.cfm .

The Latest Data on Mandatory and Optional Populations and Benefits in Medicaid

With discussions on restructuring Medicaid occurring in state capitols and Washington, two new reports provide the latest data on how much of Medicaid's spending is for covering mandatory versus optional populations and services. The analysis shows that although optional populations account for 29 percent of Medicaid enrollment, 60 percent of all Medicaid spending (whether for mandatory or optional populations) is optional and 86 percent of optional spending is for the elderly or individuals with disabilities. The issue paper is a brief summary of the data and the discussion of the practical implications for policy changes and the background report is a more detailed examination which includes the methodology of the analysis and many charts and tables.

Children's Defense Fund

The Children's Defense Fund (“CDF”) believes the Section 1115 TennCare Waiver Amendment submitted February 18, 2005, will have significant adverse effects on over 550,000 poor children in Tennessee and, potentially, on 6 to 25 million poor children throughout the United States.

The TennCare Waiver and African Americans: The Truth Behind the Rhetoric

The new TennCare waiver proposal undermines progress in reducing racial and ethnic health disparities by erecting barriers to health care for African Americans in Tennessee. Families USA - August 2004

The TennCare Waiver: A Bad Deal for Seniors

These proposed changes to TennCare will result in a program that no longer meets the health care needs of seniors. It will leave health care decisions in the hands of bureaucrats, rather than doctors, and will make vital services unaffordable for needy low-income seniors. Families USA - September 2004

Will The New TennCare Cutbacks Help Tennessee's Economy?

Tennessee used TennCare to gain federal matching funds for certain services that were previously supported only with state funds, such as coverage of public mental health care costs, case management services for foster care children, etc.5 If TennCare benefits are limited and services like these lose their federal matching status, the state will either have to make substantial cuts in these services or have to use state-only funds to maintain services. Center on Budget and Policy Priorities - July 2004

NAACP Approves Resolution Expressing Concern About Governor Bredesen's TennCare Reform Proposal

A resolution expressing concerns was approved by the Nashville Chapter and subsequently approved by the National NAACP expressing concerns. September 2004

National Breast Cancer Coalition

In a letter to Governor Bredesen, their president strongly urged the Governor “to make fundamental changes to the Waiver Amendment to ensure that TennCare can continue to provide guaranteed access to quality care for Medicaid patients, particularly those seeking treatment for breast and cervical cancer in the state of Tennessee.” September 2004

TennCare Study: More (Radical) Than Meets the Eye

“If adopted, the proposals taken as a whole could convert the TennCare program from something people can rely on when they are sick into a guessing game for physicians, and a separate but almost certainly nor equal system of medicine for the program’s beneficiaries.” National Health Law Program – August 2004

National Women’s Law Center

“The proposed definition (for Medical Necessity) cannot be found in any other state’s Medicaid program, and so court interpretations from other jurisdictions are lacking…..The overall effect of the bill…….gives controlling effect to an analysis of cost, tot he exclusion of medical safety or efficacy.” Excerpts form a letter from Judy Waxman, Vice President for Health and Reproductive Rights at the National Women’s Law Center, to Mary Francis Lyle, Attorney with Bruce, Weathers, Corley& Lyle – May 2004

TennCare’s Radical Changes Threaten Women’s Health

Three in five enrollees on TennCare are female. “The proposed changes create significant new barriers to care for everyone who relies on TennCare…..It is crucial for state government to implement alternative cost-saving policies that can improve TennCare’s management without harming vulnerable women.” National Women’s Law Center – August 2004

Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured

Impact of Recent Changes in Health Care Coverage for Low-Income People: A First Look at the Research Following Changes in Oregon’s Medicaid Program

“While changes such as reduced benefits and increased premiums and cost sharing can create short-term savings for a state, Oregon’s experience shows they can result in large coverage losses and access problems for beneficiaries and give rise to new sources of stress for health care providers. Cindy Mann and Samantha Artiga – June 2004

Tennessee’s New “Medically Necessary” Standard: Uncovering the Insured?

Although here has been no operational experience with this new standard to date, there is interest on the part of other states in applying some or all of the Tennessee standard to their own programs. The purpose of this Issue Brief is to describe this new standard and to compare it with the prior standard in Tennessee as well as the standards used by other public and private payors.”  Andy Schneider – July 2004

Proposed Cap on TennCare Spending Could Result in Major Reductions in Coverage Beyoin Those Specifically Identified in the Draft Waiver

Cap Could Result in the Loss of Hundreds of Millions of Federal Dollars “Despite its surface appeal as a quick fix to TennCare spending pressures, a cap is a poor substitute for thoughtful policymaking.” Cindy Mann and Elizabeth McNichol - September 2004