A federal judge has ruled that TennCare officials can for the first time in more than 20 years begin reviewing the eligibility of about 150,000 people who are the subject of a decades-old lawsuit. The ruling comes the day after TennCare officials asked to be released from the terms of a 1987 injunction that forbade Tennessee from reviewing eligibility of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit. The state sought an expedited ruling partly in an effort to save money amid a major budget crunch. TennCare faces budget cuts of 15% or more this year in the face of a revenue shortfall of as much as a billion dollars.
A subsidiary of health insurer CIGNA that employs 1,000 people in Nashville has lost a contract under which it processes and pays claims to Medicare. The federal contract covers processing and payment of claims from hospitals as well as doctors and ambulance services in Alabama, Georgia and Tennessee. Medicare's overseer has been consolidating contractors to improve oversight and better manage costs.
After weathering back-to-back budget cuts, Florida hospitals now face a $137 million reduction that could soon put the state's healthcare system into crisis and lead to the closure of some facilities, according to hospital officials. The hospital cuts won't go into effect until spring, when legislators return for the regular lawmaking session to hash out next year's budget. That budget already has a projected deficit of about $4 billion.
Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen's administration has asked a federal judge to release the state from a decades-old court order in a healthcare lawsuit that could allow the state to drop some TennCare recipients and potentially save the state tens of millions of dollars. The move returns to the forefront a long-standing case over the state's ability to fairly determine whether a group of about 150,000 disabled TennCare recipients are entitled to the benefits.
Leaders of House Democrats say they are scheduling a vote on renewing a politically popular health insurance program for children, giving President-elect Barack Obama an early victory on healthcare. Unless Congress acts, federal funding for the program expires March 31. The legislation will look similar to bills the House and Senate twice approved in 2007.
An Alabama lawmaker wants Jefferson County to divert sales tax dollars earmarked for Cooper Green Mercy Hospital to help pay down the county's $3.2 billion sewer debt. Sen. Scott Beason, R-Gardendale, said his proposed legislation is a good way to resolve the sewer-debt crisis without any additional burden on taxpayers. The measure would remove a guaranteed funding source for Cooper Green, although Beason said he believed the County Commission would find money from elsewhere in the general fund for the hospital.