Access MedPLUS May Be Liquidated, Tennessee Court Rules

Access MedPLUS, the largest health plan in the TennCare Medicaid managed care program, is "insolvent" and may be liquidated by Tennessee officials, the Davidson County chancellor ruled Nov. 2, the Nashville Tennessean reports. The decision follows an Oct. 17 ruling that gave the state "permission to seize the company" but stopped short of liquidation. According to state officials, the Tennessee Coordinated Care Network, which owns Access MedPLUS, has a net worth of negative $54 million and "no chance of paying its debts after losing its TennCare contract" in October. TCCN attorneys said TennCare enrollees comprised 99% of the health plan's business. Anne Pope, the state's insurance commissioner, said, "Without a TennCare contract, rehabilitation of the company is not an option because there is no revenue source or essential business." However, TCCN lawyers said the company "should not be liquidated" and "would be able to pay its debts if it wins three lawsuits" it filed against the state. The suits claim the health plan was "underpaid" and "forced to provide for more seriously ill enrollees" than other TennCare plans. The Tennessean reports that the court is expected to decide "what should happen to those lawsuits," as well as others filed against the insurer, such as a Tennessee Medical Association suit to stop TCCN from recouping money the insurer claims it overpaid to physicians. Following the liquidation ruling, the Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance now has 40 days to "tell the court how it will go about shutting down" TCCN and Access MedPLUS. The plan's 279,000 TennCare enrollees have already been transferred to BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee's TennCare Select plan (Lewis, Nashville Tennessean, 11/3).