11/10/2004 05:17:28 PM|||Nathan Moore|||

TennCare shall expire. God rest its soul, about as much as He rests that of Arafat's.

Like a good attorney, I'm on all sorts of relevant listservs, in an attempt to stay current on the law and on the cutting edge of my profession. On occasion (ok, often) these listservs turn political. For instance, this came through the pipeline of the general Tennessee Bar Association listserv today.

Dear Governor Bredesen:

As a supporter and Democrat I am extremely disappointed in the direction you are taking on TennCare. I know the issues and problems are tough and deep. This decision, however, once again, runs contrary to the values and constituencies we are supposed to serve as Democrats. I value and respect you and the success you have experienced. I cannot, however, not share with you a heart that says we can no longer continue to disregard the plight of the poor and disadvantaged any longer.

As in Worker's Comp reform and now in TennCare, we continue to justify our actions based on the perspective of "business principles" and abstract formulas all the while forgetting the plight of children, single mothers and working families that have no healthcare. Values and sound business principles can work well together, it's just takes more ingenuity.

Once again, we Democrats that have historically stood for the welfare of the have nots, cave to the agenda of the Republicans and "conservatives" and are now ready to dismantle another security net for those who need healthcare, turn it over to the Bush administration and assure that we will get permanent taxbreaks while the poor and sick have nowhere to turn. It is so ironic that on the day we announce the plight of TennCare, we can miraculously find $107 million for sky boxes at UT! Woe be it to think we could make any sacrifices there! But it truly does make a statement about our priorities.

Where is your backbone? Or, have you no point of reference for what it is like to be poor, without healthcare?

One suggestion before you continue to effectuate another "conservative" agenda by eliminating TennCare, Take a month and try to live on $270 a week(Worker's comp wages for a $9/hour injured worker) in subsidized housing in the inner city (outside of Belle Meade), have someone in your family get sick and need medicine and see how you might feel when the leader of the Democratic Party in Tennessee says the fight is too tough and abandons the very people who obviously have no voice, no healthcare, and now no advocate. Heck for no other reason, do it and you will have a good compassionate TV spot for the next campaign.

Thank you for considering my opinion.

David L. King

His bleeding heart is staining my properly starched Republican shirt sleeve. Besides the obvious self righteousness that one must feel to publish this letter in an irrelevant forum, the beliefs of my fellow legal professionals lead me, at times, to vigorously shake my head in bewilderment. I'm not sure what people Mr. King is truly referring to - he somehow mixes up returning to Medicaid with throwing old ladies into the Cumberland in January. The grasp on what is actually happening is tenuous at best.

As mentioned by someone else (I forget who), the University of Tennessee is paying for the renovations to its own stadium. Bogus argument. Actually, the whole letter is full of bogus argument. The underlying theme is that Mr. King is a fan of communist government. No comfort is too small to not be a right, to be provided without restriction by the People's Republic of Tennessee. This a foolish strategy that can only result in collective ruin. Advocating bad policy because it feels good for the benefit of a "TV spot" would make Phil Bredesen a most contemptible governor. I am a staunch partisan, but Governor Bredesen is doing a whale of a job, and acting as conservatively as a Republican governor would. That may be the burr in Mr. King's saddle, but it certainly speaks well of Phil Bredesen.

I'm also wondering what people he is referring to who "obviously have no voice". Voting, I suppose, is overrated when it doesn't produce the result you desire. Dictatorship by fiat is preferable to the will of the people. Everyone in Tennessee has a voice - heck, in my role as a lawyer / poll watcher here in Davidson County there were people having a voice who by law shouldn't have been. If anything, there are certain groups having too much of a voice (and they aren't Republicans).

I suppose our local Gannett rag is not considered a voice for the poor and downtrodden in Tennesee.

I suppose that the Nashville Scene is not considered a voice for the poor and downtrodden.

I suppose that a Democrat controlled General Assembly is not a voice for the poor and downtrodden in Tennessee.

I also suppose that a Democrat controlled General Assembly in a state that only requires a 51% percent majority to override the governor's veto is also, alas, not a voice for the poor and downtrodden.

For God's sake, people. Don't hide behind the shroud of compassion when your goal is a completely socialistic state with a complete devaluation of individualism.

Seven years of eduction (at least) and this is what one comes up with. I would think that in seven years one would be able to take an economics class or two, or maybe some American history, perhaps something, somewhere, relaying that cradle-to-grave healthcare is not a constitutional right. I guess not.

UPDATE Brit Hume is covering Bredesen's decision to kill TennCare on FNC - mispronounced Breedeson, but the publicity was a good thing.

FURTHER UPDATE The attitudes of "advocacy groups" get under my craw and spawn this add-on to the original post. Under the guise of selflessness and compassion, they oppose adding co-pay requirements or limiting doctor visits.


The governor's efforts to control costs by limiting doctor visits, prescriptions and other coverage for some enrollees – and to charge some co-pays and premiums – have been met with opposition and lawsuits by advocacy groups.

Good job, guys. You killed the goose.

Somehow visiting a doctor for no good reason, without any checks on the process, is a right, and more importantly, a right the other 5 million of us in Tennessee ought to pay for. The idea that healthcare at-will is at all appropriate boggles the mind.

I am not against providing reasonable cost healthcare. We should create a venue where people can share in its cost. It makes sense. And by law, no one is ever refused emergency treatment. The Pollyannaesque marketing used by the forces of "compassion" is unfortunate, and goes directly to their credibility. It has also ensured the demise of the program.

UPDATE AGAIN Channel 5 locally here in Nashville is going over the story. The seven days granted by Bredesen as requested by activist attorney Gordon Bonnyman seems to be a mere, well, technicality.

Now for the disaster predictions. Channel 5 is now asking "how people will survice without TennCare?". Talking now of hurrying and running to get everyone's prescriptions filled. Geeze.

|||110012988744821720|||TennCare Dies6/28/2005 10:35:18 AM|||Anonymous|||I am not against helping people who need it. What I am mad about is when two parents get divorced,each receive 50/50 custody with no child support on the children.The children live one full week with one parent and then turn the children over to the next parent and repeat this. One parent ends up poor and receiving state aid on the children, making around $5,000.00 per year, while the other parent is making $38,000.00 dollars a year, providing no insurance coverage for their children, and proudly taking their children to a doctor and handing that doctor the tenncare card. why is it that when parents get divorced with no child support, the parent who makes the most money should HAVE TO SUPPLY INSURANCE FOR THEIR CHILDREN.This would save millions of dollars to use for those who are really sick.