Bredesen Statement On Executive Order Establishing The Governor's Task Force On The Health Care Safety Net - The Tennessee Tribune

Tennessee TRIBUNE, The
02-02-2005
'Two weeks ago, when I announced we would move ahead with TennCare
enrollment reductions, I noted that we would ... as a state ... need to
revisit our health care safety net. Over the past decade, portions of it
have atrophied in the shadow of a public health plan that has paid for
everything, without limits. Now, it's time for us to begin re-working those
safety net muscles so we can provide at least some level of basic care to
those who need it.

'Part of strengthening the safety net means asking providers to do more. It
means asking enrollees to make better use of community and faith-based
clinics. And it will mean state government making limited investments to
help beef up some non-commercial health care outlets, including our county
health departments. It may mean other adjustments that could be identified
on down the road.

'With that in mind, today I'm signing an Executive Order to create a 90-day
task force that will re-examine the status of our safety net and recommend
improvements. This will be a broad-based group to include many of our
health-related commissioners who already have begun work on this front. It
will include lawmakers ... county mayors ... representatives of county
health departments, community clinics and safety net hospitals ... experts
on urban and rural health issues. You should have the most up-to-date list
in front of you. It will expand by a few more members over the next day or
so.

'As we move forward, I'm going to ask this group to focus primarily on the
providers that state government can most easily ... and most immediately
... affect in the short term: Our county health departments, safety net
hospitals, community and faith-based clinics and other non-commercial
health care outlets in underserved rural and urban areas.

'I'm also going to ask them to be very focused in how they approach their
analysis and recommendations. I'm going to ask them to begin by comparing
and contrasting our safety net with its counterparts in neighboring states
like Kentucky, North Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi and Arkansas.
That makes sense because we don't want to do this in a vacuum; we want to
look at states with similar economies, demographics and health challenges.

'Then, as the Task Force gets a better understanding of where we stand
relative to other states, I want them to make sensible recommendations that
can move us forward while taking into account our fiscal condition. In
terms of dollars, this is an area in which we literally could spend
unlimited amounts. But as we all know, we don't have unlimited amounts to
spend; we can't afford to trade one set of fiscal pressures for another. So
we'll need to make smart investments and adjustments in critical areas of
our health care system that can help absorb the impact of what's happening
within TennCare.

'I want to re-emphasize something I said two weeks ago: This is not the
direction I wanted to go with TennCare. We had a plan to preserve full
enrollment that was stymied. But given our situation, we're going to
proceed with TennCare changes in the most responsible manner possible.
We'll be looking at a range of options to help those enrollees who are
losing coverage. At a minimum, revisiting the safety net is a must.'

MEMBERS -- Governor's Task Force on the Health Care Safety Net*

* Kenneth Robinson, Commissioner, Department of Health (Chair)

* Virginia Betts, Commissioner, Department of Mental Health & Developmental
Disabilities

* Jim Brexler, President and CEO, Erlanger Hospital, Chattanooga

* Paula Flowers, Commissioner, Department of Commerce & Insurance

* Ron Franks, Dean of Medicine, East Tennessee State University, Johnson
City

* Hank Herrod, Dean, University of Tennessee College of Medicine, Memphis

* Jeff Huffman, County Mayor, Tipton County

* Melissa Knight, Executive Director, InterFaith Health Clinic, Knoxville

* Virginia Lodge, Commissioner, Department of Human Services

* Yvonne Madlock, Director, Memphis and Shelby County Department of Health

* John Maupin, President, Meharry Medical College, Nashville

* Randy McNally, State Senator, Oak Ridge

* John Mullinix, County Mayor, Fentress County

* Steve Norris, Deputy Commissioner, Department of Finance &
Administration/Division of Mental Retardation Services

* David Shepard, State Representative, Dickson

* Bruce Steinhauer, President and CEO, Regional Medical Center, Memphis

* Burt Waller, Executive Director, Christ Community Health Services,
Memphis

* Kathy Wood-Dobbins, Executive Director, Tennessee Primary Care
Association, Brentwood

* As of 1/24/05; additional members to be added

Article copyright Tennessee Tribune.
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