Tennessee unveils TennCare block grant proposal, pushes savings split with federal government

[TexasTowelie]

Tennessee formally unveiled its proposal Tuesday for an unprecedented Medicaid block grant that could become the first of its kind in the nation.

The proposal, if approved by the federal government, would allow Tennessee to keep some of the money saved by running its program more efficiently — in theory allowing the state to boost health benefits for those covered by TennCare or to eventually expand coverage, though the state has not pledged to do the latter.

It's a deal Gov. Bill Lee said could result in Tennessee collecting as much as $1 billion in savings each year to expand services offered through Medicaid, but officials stressed that number is contingent on negotiations that have not yet started with the Centers for Medicaid and Medicaid Services in Washington, D.C.

The savings estimate is based on recent data on annual spending by TennCare, the state's Medicaid program that has consistently come in below healthcare spending projections by CMS. That means Tennessee saved the federal government billions of dollars as a result, but has not been rewarded for doing so, the state argues.

Read more: https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/politics/2019/09/17/tennessee-unveils-tenncare-unprecedented-block-grant-proposal-federal-savings-opens-public-comment/2225859001/

[Docreed2003]

1. And it comes in under projections annually

Because the GOP nimrods that now control our state legislature actively punish the most vulnerable in our state by limiting coverage and availability while also refusing to accept the expansion offered under the affordable care act. These same idiots will sit back and bemoan the closure of rural hospitals across the state and, at least to the media, claim to have no idea why that's happening.