Tennessee Governor Proposes $80M Cut to TennCare in Revised State Budget Proposal

Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen (D) on Monday at a joint session of the House and Senate proposed a revised state budget, which includes an $80 million reduction in TennCare funding to address a state budget shortfall, the Knoxville News Sentinel reports. The revised budget proposal is $468 million less than the $28 billion budget Bredesen proposed in January.

In January, Bredesen proposed allocating $100 million to expand the "medically needy" program under TennCare, which provides coverage to residents who have incurred high medical bills but also have incomes that make them ineligible for the blanket program. The expansion would have allowed up to 100,000 residents to become eligible for the program.

Under the new proposal, Bredesen calls for reducing that funding to $20 million, which would provide coverage for about 20,000 residents, according to TennCare Director Darin Gordon. About 50,000 residents have been temporarily qualified as "medically needy" but are going through a "reverification" process to determine if they still qualify for coverage. Gordon expects about 5,000 to 10,000 people will remain eligible for the program (Humphrey, Knoxville News Sentinel, 5/12).