Tagged: medicaid

  Tea party activist David Adams is once again suing Governor Steve Beshear over the Affordable Care Act. 

Adams first sued Beshear to block him from implementing a state-run health insurance exchange. That suit is pending. And now, Adams is suing to stop Beshear from expanding Medicaid.

Last week, Murray Calloway County Hospital announced the elimination of 28 jobs. MCCH CEO Jerry Penner says the cuts are results of a turbulent healthcare environment including low patient volume and declining Medicaid reimbursements. Shelly Baskin speaks with Penner about the details surrounding the cuts, and the financial trouble related to Managed Care Organizations and the Affordable Care Act.

On a day when the Republican-led state of New Jersey moved to expand it’s Medicaid program, hospitals and Democrats see an opening in Tennessee. The Tennessee Hospital Association released a poll showing a majority of residents want expansion.

Nearly 60 percent of respondents to the hospital association’s poll said the state should accept federal dollars to expand it’s health insurance program for the poor as envisioned in the Affordable Care Act.

THA president Craig Becker says he’s also seen a softening among state lawmakers.

“We started with many of our legislators back in the summertime with basically a ‘hell no.’ Now we’ve moved ourselves much closer I think where they’re willing to be open to hear what we have to say,” he said.

The state’s hospitals are playing out the “what if’s” as lawmakers consider whether to expand Medicaid as part of the federal health care overhaul. Their study says 90,000 Tennessee jobs could be lost if the expansion does not occur.