Bredesen Unveils Tennessee Health Initiative

In late March, Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen introduced Cover Tennessee, a new strategy to provide affordable and portable health insurance to more than 600,000 uninsured Tennesseans.

At an average monthly cost of about $50 for an individual, with no high front-end deductibles, and designed to

The program has three main components:

* CoverTN is a partnership between the state and small businesses to help working Tennesseans buy affordable health insurance. Besides the average cost of $50 per month for an individual, the state and employer each will kick in about $50 a month as well, for a total monthly cost of out the burden among these groups. What a refreshing example of government leading."

Paul B. Ginsburg, PhD, president, Center for Studying Health System Change, told HFMA that he, too, was impressed by "the political accomplishment of getting this compromise among different stakeholders with different ideologies." And Karen Ignagni, president and CEO, America's Health Insurance Plans, called the legislation a "path-breaking attempt to apportion responsibility for expanding access among all stakeholders."

$150. Initially, the focus will be on workers earning $54,000 a year or less and small businesses such as restaurants, retail shops, and landscaping firms.

* CoverKids will provide health insurance to uninsured children in homes with incomes up to $50,000 a year for a family of four. Families with higher incomes will be allowed to buy into the plan.

* AccessTN will provide health insurance to adults who can afford to buy it but who may not be able to obtain it due to pre-existing medical conditions.

In a speech to a joint session of the Tennessee General Assembly, Bredesen said he will keep an open dialogue with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to explore options for future federal dollars. He said HHS secretary Mike Leavitt has agreed to consider funding outside of the rigid Medicaid rules that led to pressures in TennCare.

IS "PATIENT SAFETY" BECOMING AN OXYMORON? Patient safety incidents in U.S. hospitals grew from 1.18 million to 1.24 million among the 40 million hospitalizations covered by Medicare during 2002-04, according to a report by HealthGrades.