Local medical equipment suppliers are worried their TennCare patients soon could be hard-pressed to buy home medical equipment locally.
Aiming to cut costs, BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee has signed a deal to turn over benefits administration for home medical equipment and supplies for the insurer’s TennCare enrollees to a Connecticut-based company, CareCentrix.
Starting Nov. 1, local durable medical equipment suppliers participating in TennCare must contract with and get paid by CareCentrix instead of BlueCross. CareCentrix also must develop and maintain BlueCross’ TennCare network of suppliers for those home health services.
But local medical equipment suppliers say the move could hinder access to supplies for TennCare enrollees if CareCentrix can’t establish a robust local vendor network. They say CareCentrix is offering far-too-low reimbursement rates that might prevent many equipment providers from contracting with the company, leaving a void when BlueCross terminates its contracts with those providers on Nov. 1.
“If CareCentrix’s present reimbursement rates are not raised, there will be a lack of accessibility and safety for the medically fragile children of this state,” said Thomas Henley, who runs Henley Medical on McCallie Avenue. He provides specialty medical equipment to many children with TennCare coverage.