Tenn. GOP Lawmakers Question Funding for Bredesen’s Insurance Plan

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Republican lawmakers in Nashville, Tenn. have questioned the lack of an extended funding plan for Gov. Phil Bredesen’s Cover Tennessee health insurance proposal.

Bredesen, a Democrat, has said he wants to use $100 million in TennCare reserves to pay for the first three years of the program designed to reduce Tennessee’s uninsured population of more than 600,000 residents.

But several members of a joint fiscal review panel wanted to know what would happen after the first three years.

State Finance Commissioner Dave Goetz said the state could consider raising the tax of cigarettes, adjust budget priorities or shut down the program.

“We have the ability to control our own destiny here,” Goetz said.
Sen. Jim Bryson, Bredesen’s likely GOP opponent in this fall’s election, was the most vocal critic of the lack of a long-term plan.
“The reality is that this is the administration’s plan, and they ought to have a way to fund the plan,” said Bryson, R-Franklin. “And they don’t, other than enacting a tax.”

“I generally don’t like increasing any taxes,” he said.

Other lawmakers wondered whether the plan would better be tweaked to include more coverage for catastrophic events, and whether the working poor would be willing to pay even a $50 monthly premium.

“I just don’t want people to think this is the answer to all their health care problems, because this won’t even get them started,” said Sen. Mae Beavers, R-Mt. Juliet.

Goetz disagreed, calling the program “a start” even if it has limited health benefits.

Without any sort of coverage, a $2,000 medical bill could max out credit cards and lead some into bankruptcy, Goetz said.
Because the Cover Tennessee plan would be run by the state, it would be guaranteed to avoid the cost overruns experienced by TennCare, Goetz said. And if it’s successful, lawmakers will likely find a way to pay for it, he said.

Still, some lawmakers remained dubious.

“Why we would embark on a program knowing that three years from now we will need to pass a tax?” asked Sen. David Fowler, R-Signal Mountain.

Also Monday, the Tennessee Health Care Campaign organized a news conference in which ill residents described their health care struggles since being disenrolled from TennCare.

The group supports a measure to restore 67,000 people with preexisting conditions back to TennCare.

“These are not healthy people,” said Tony Garr, executive director of the Tennessee Health Care Campaign, adding that the Cover Tennessee plan is not designed to help people like them.
But Goetz said the proposal would cost more than $400 million per year, and said the administration is skeptical about some of the presenters’ claims.

“We don’t believe they gave a full accounting of their situation,” said Goetz.

Goetz said he couldn’t elaborate on which aspects are allegedly incomplete without obtaining a signed release from the former TennCare enrollees.

Garr defended the statements made by the disenrollees.

“I think it’s appalling the governor should question the truthfulness of people who are suffering because of his cuts,” he said.

The Cover Tennessee program would include a high-risk pool for those individuals deemed uninsurable. But that program would cover only up to 10,000 people, which Goetz said is in line with the size of high-risk pools in most other states.

The high-risk insurance would cost more than standard insurance, but the state is proposing premium assistance for those who cannot afford the full payments.

“We think through the high-risk pool they can access the care that their needs require,” Goetz said. “But this is no longer free care.”
Goetz said the anti-Cover Tennessee campaign has more to do with politics than with health insurance.

“These are people who have opposed us politically and they are opposing us politically,” he said.