Judge Releases Tennessee From Ruling Preventing Eligibility Review of 150,000 TennCare Beneficiaries

U.S. District Court Senior Judge John Nixon on Thursday said TennCare officials can review the eligibility of about 150,000 beneficiaries with disabilities who previously were protected from review by a 1987 injunction, the Tennessean reports (Tennessean, 1/9). On Wednesday, the administration of Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen (D) asked Nixon to release the state from the ruling.

Bredesen made the request on the grounds that reviewing the eligibility of this group -- many or all of whom subsequently could be released from the program -- could allow the state to save tens of millions of dollars at a time when the state is considering cutting benefits to other beneficiaries to meet budget reduction goals. Bredesen has asked that state agencies cut at least 15% of spending from their budgets. Because the state has been barred from reviewing the eligibility of these beneficiaries, it is not known how much a full review could save the state, according to the Tennessean.

Tennessee Justice Center attorney Gordon Bonnyman, who represents those who were protected against review by the 1987 ruling, reiterated the language from the ruling, stating that the state has not proven that it is capable of appropriately reviewing the eligibility of the 150,000 beneficiaries. The ruling, issued in a case filed in 1979 by Tennessee Medicaid beneficiaries, covered severely disabled individuals, whose care costs the state about $400 million annually, according to the Tennessean (Emery, Tennessean, 1/8).