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Officials: TennCare Cuts May Close Some Hospitals

By AP

Nashville, TN – Health care officials say Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen's proposed cuts to the state's expanded Medicaid program would cost state hospitals hundreds of millions of dollars and may force some of them to shut down. Bredesen has said he needs to slash $201 million from TennCare to balance an almost 28 and a half billion dollar state budget.

Tennessee Hospital Association president Craig Becker estimates the loss to hospitals statewide will be about $540 million. One main change is a $10,000 annual cap on inpatient care for adults, which TennCare spokeswoman Kelly Gunderson estimates will affect about 5,600 enrollees, or less than 1 percent of TennCare's 1.2 million enrollees.