Proposed cuts to TennCare, the State’s Medicaid program, include limiting office visits, laboratory and x-ray services and inpatient hospital and non-emergency hospital services to no more than eight days per year, according to the report.
If adopted, the fee — which is expected to generate $424 million for TennCare — would be returned to the hospitals through 2-to-1 federal-matched funding.
Tennessee Hospital Association CEO Craig Becker told Bloomberg that restricting outpatient care could lead to an increase in chronically ill patients who end up in hospitals. Additionally, Medicaid would no longer reimburse services for patients whose hospital stays exceed 8 days, meaning costs would be passed onto either low-income patients or to the hospitals through their charity care programs.
Read the Bloomberg report on the Tennessee Hospital Association.
Read more coverage on the Tennessee Hospital Association:
– Tennessee Hospital Association May Ask for Assessment Fee Renewal, Increase
– Tennessee Governor Expects Hospitals to Approve Assessment Fee Increase
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