Catholic health care advocates brace for cuts in Tennessee program

Published: 2005-02-07

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (CNS) -- Shawn Caster has seen two sides of the TennCare debate, as both the mother of a severely ill child who relies on the state-run health insurance plan for the poor and uninsurable and as an attorney with the Tennessee Justice Center, a nonprofit law firm representing TennCare users in federal court. "We're bracing for the worst and hoping for the best," she said, speaking as a mother and a representative of other families fighting for medical coverage. Her 11-year-old son, Julian, has had TennCare coverage since he was born with a diaphragmatic hernia, pulmonary hypertension and cerebral palsy. He uses a wheelchair and has private-duty nursing care seven days a week. Gov. Phil Bredesen announced in January that nearly half the adult participants in the state's health care program for the poor would be cut off. Additional cuts, such as limits on the number of trips to the doctor that participants may make, would save the state $575 million for the next year, Bredesen said. While Bredesen has repeatedly said the 612,000 children now enrolled in TennCare will see no changes in their coverage, attorneys at the Tennessee Justice Center dispute that claim. They contend children whose parents are making the transition from welfare to work, as well as those with catastrophic illnesses, stand to lose coverage. Other families will face higher co-payments and "could face lapses in their coverage if they can't pay," according to Caster, a 1991 graduate of St. Cecilia Academy and a member of St. Vincent de Paul Parish in Nashville. Since its inception 11 years ago, the cost of TennCare has risen at an unsustainable rate. Critics of Bredesen's plan accept that changes have to be made to the program, but disagree with how they should be carried out. The Tennessee Catholic Public Policy Commission has been a strong supporter of preserving TennCare "in a fiscally responsible manner while ensuring that none of our citizens, particularly children, are left without health care."

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