Tennessee Medicaid expansion discussed again by lawmakers, health care officials
A group of lawmakers and health care officials working on a health care expansion plan gathered in Nashville once again on Wednesday, this time to further delve into the details of a proposal that will need approval from the federal and state government.
During a meeting at Vanderbilt University, four lawmakers serving on the 3-Star Healthy Task Force met with TennCare chief Dr. Wendy Long and Melinda Buntin, chair of the Department of Health Policy at Vanderbilt University's School of Medicine. They continued working on the solidifying the exact types of "circuit breakers," or enrollment thresholds, and components, such as drug tests, they would like to include in the state's plan, which was discussed with U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services officials in June.
"What we're looking at is letting CMS look at different utilizations we're wanting to do and say these are things we are measuring because it's important to meet those to go to phase two," said Rep. Cameron Sexton, R-Crossville, who has chaired the task force since it formed in April.
“There’s going to be this ongoing conversation back and forth about what they like and what they don’t like,” said Sen. Richard Briggs, R-Knoxville.
Read more: http://www.tennessean.com/story/news/politics/2016/08/17/tennessee-medicaid-expansion-discussed-again-lawmakers-health-care-officials/88916258/
