Tennessee Governor To Announce ‘Major’ Changes To TennCare In Televised Address Tonight

Tennessee Gov. Don Sundquist (R) will address the state at 8 p.m. CDT this evening on public television and radio to announce proposals for "major changes" in TennCare, the state's Medicaid managed care program with 1.4 million beneficiaries, the Memphis Commercial Appeal reports. The state must receive federal approval for TennCare changes and must submit a waiver to the federal government to maintain the program as an alternative to traditional Medicaid. The Commercial Appeal reports that while neither the governor nor TennCare officials have indicated what the proposals will include, the changes are expected to be based on the recommendations issued last year by an advisory committee (Locker, Memphis Commercial Appeal, 9/28). In the "biggest policy shift" recommended by the committee, enrollees would be divided into three pools -- Medicaid-eligible individuals, those unable to obtain coverage in the private market because of preexisting medical conditions, and those who are categorically ineligible for Medicaid but unable to afford or not offered employer-sponsored coverage (de la Cruz, Nashville Tennessean, 9/28). Benefits for those in the Medicaid pool would "remain unchanged," but the state could reduce benefits and raise premiums based on a sliding scale for the other two pools (Memphis Commercial Appeal, 9/28). "We're still working out what we'll do. There's no final decision in that regard," Sundquist said (Nashville Tennessean, 9/28). The state Legislature will hold hearings on the waiver proposal Oct. 9 and 10 (Memphis Commercial Appeal, 9/28). In addition, TennCare spokesperson Lola Potter said the state would hold a public comment period on the waiver before it is submitted to the federal government in January (Nashville Tennessean, 9/28).