Family members whose loved ones rely on durable and specialty medical equipment are concerned that a change to TennCare payments locally could disrupt their network of equipment vendors.
“What happens when you have no one locally to fit, repair and maintain a specialized wheelchair that for some folks is their only way to get around?” said Hixson mother Sherry Campbell. Her son Chad, 32, had a traumatic brain injury as a child and now relies on a customized wheelchair and tracheotomy equipment.
“That just worries me immensely,” she said.
Aiming to cut costs, BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee – whose subsidiary Volunteer State Health Plan is one of three managed care organizations in the state to administer TennCare benefits – recently signed a contract with Connecticut-based CareCentrix to handle the insurer’s durable medical equipment benefits for TennCare enrollees. That includes specialty rehabilitation equipment, hearing aid batteries, tracheotomy supplies and other home medical needs.
The change means that, starting Nov. 1, CareCentrix instead of BlueCross will reimburse local medical equipment suppliers serving TennCare patients in the BlueCare or TennCare select networks. CareCentrix also will develop and maintain BlueCross’ TennCare network of suppliers for those services.