Tennessee Files Appeal In Access MedPlus Receivership Case

The Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance on Feb. 13 filed an appeal of a January ruling that denied the state's request to "seize control" of Access MedPlus, the second largest managed care organization in the state's Medicaid managed care program, TennCare. The Chattanooga Times & Free Press reports that Davidson County Chancellor Irvin Kilcrease last month had "tossed out" the state's request to place Access into state receivership, contending that Commissioner of Commerce and Insurance Anne Pope failed to adequately justify the financial necessity of such a move (Commins, Chattanooga Times & Free Press, 2/14). In its receivership bid, the state had argued that Access MedPlus had repeatedly failed to pay providers and had a "negative net worth," which placed it in violation of state law (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 1/18). While Kilcrease ruled that the company had maintained funds sufficient to meet its financial demands for the next year, he ultimately ordered the state to continue the involuntary supervision of Access MedPlus begun last spring (Commins, Chattanooga Times & Free Press, 2/14). Meanwhile, Access MedPlus, a minority-owned company, has charged the TennCare program with racial discrimination, arguing that "minority-owned companies -- especially Access MedPlus -- are held to financial and other standards that white-owned firms don't have to meet." The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office for Civil Rights is investigating the allegations (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 1/18).