Tennessee hospitals push for tax to offset cuts to TennCare

The Tennessean, February 9, 2010

The Tennessee Hospital Association's members will push for a temporary tax on their revenues to reduce cuts to the TennCare program proposed by Gov. Phil Bredesen. The association's board voted to approve a one-year "coverage fee" of 1%-2% that would raise money for hospital services scheduled to receive less funding from TennCare. The fee likely would go into effect July 1 and would not be passed along to patients, association officials said. The group also will lobby the state to dip further into reserves and to use any additional revenue that comes into the state to reduce TennCare cuts, The Tennessean reports.