What is it about Tennessee officials and lawmakers that makes this state so dedicated to saying no to smart policy and yes to spending our dollars stupidly?
This week, we’ve seen yet another federal court ruling – this one on a TennCare lawsuit – that will force us to spend many more millions of dollars that we knew from the get-go we would spend. Now we’ll spend more – including untold millions on litigation and a final, more expensive fix.
A federal judge Tuesday ruled against Tennessee’s Medicaid agency, granting class action status to a lawsuit filed against the state agency by 11 patients who alleged months-long delays getting TennCare coverage.
The ruling means that potentially hundreds of Tennesseans can join the lawsuit against the state, according to a story in today’s Times Free Press by Kate Harrison Belz. The lawsuit was filed against TennCare by the Tennessee Justice Center, the Southern Poverty Law Center and the National Health Law Program.
Additionally, U.S. District Judge Todd J. Campbell ruled that TennCare must find a way to quickly determine eligibility for people who have waited months to find out their application status.