Skip to main content
Subscribe
  • Login
  • My Account
  • Logout
  • Register For Free
  • Subscribe
  • News
    • Current News
    • Providers
    • Insurance
    • Government
    • Finance
    • Technology
    • Safety & Quality
    • Digital Health
    • Transformation
    • ESG
    • People
    • Regional News
    • Digital Edition (Web Version)
    • Patients
    • Operations
    • Care Delivery
    • Payment
    • Midwest
    • Northeast
    • South
    • West
  • Blogs
    • AI
    • Deals
    • Layoff Tracker
    • HLTH 2024
    • Sponsored Content: Vital Signs Blog
  • Opinion
    • Letters
    • From the Editor
  • Events & Awards
    • Awards
    • Conferences
    • Galas
    • Virtual Briefings
    • Webinars
    • Nominate/Eligibility
    • 100 Most Influential People
    • 50 Most Influential Clinical Executives
    • 40 Under 40
    • Best Places to Work in Healthcare
    • Healthcare Marketing Impact Awards
    • Innovators Awards
    • Diversity Leaders
    • Leading Women
    • Best in Business Awards
    • The 2030 Playbook Conference
    • Innovations in Patient Experience
    • Leading Women Conference & Awards Luncheon
    • Leadership Summit
    • Workforce Summit
    • Best Places to Work Awards Gala
    • Diversity Leaders Gala
    • - Looking Ahead to 2025
    • - Financial Growth
    • - Hospital of the Future
    • - Value Based Care
    • - Looking Ahead to 2026
  • Multimedia
    • Podcast - Beyond the Byline
    • Sponsored Podcast - Healthcare Insider
    • Sponsored Video Series - One on One
    • Sponsored Video Series - Checking In with Dan Peres
  • Data & Insights
    • Data & Insights Home
    • Hospital Financials
    • Staffing & Compensation
    • Quality & Safety
    • Mergers & Acquisitions
    • Skilled Nursing Facilities
    • Data Archive
    • Resource Guide: By the Numbers
    • Surveys
    • Data Points
  • Newsletters
  • MORE+
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Media Kit
    • Jobs
    • People on the Move
    • Reprints & Licensing
    • Sponsored Content
MENU
Breadcrumb
  1. Home
  2. Government
December 18, 2016 11:00 PM

Renewed Tennessee Medicaid waiver will limit uncompensated-care funds

Virgil Dickson
  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Share
  • Email
  • More
    Reprints Print
    Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam tried and failed to expand Medicaid last year.

    The Obama administration and Tennessee officials have broken their impasse over the future of federal funding that subsidizes uncompensated care provided by the state's hospitals.

    The funding pool is part of a larger waiver that allows the state to continue its Medicaid managed-care model, known as TennCare. Disagreements about the structure and amount of uncompensated-care funding has held up the renewal of the entire waiver for six months.

    TennCare was authorized in 2002 under a Section 1115 waiver that expired June 30 but has been extended several times. The CMS has now agreed to extend the waiver through June 30, 2021.

    Under the new agreement, the CMS will continue the uncompensated-care payments through June 30, 2017, at current levels, which have averaged around $500 million a year.

    During a one-year transition period, the total possible payments will ramp up to $708 million.

    After that, Tennessee must submit a revised methodology for distributing the money that limits the subsidies to care provided to people who wouldn't be eligible for Medicaid if the state agreed to expand the program under the Affordable Care Act.

    “Coverage is the best way to assure beneficiary access to healthcare for low income individuals, and uncompensated care pool funding should not pay for costs that would otherwise be covered in a Medicaid expansion,” Eliot Fishman, director of the CMS' State Demonstrations Group wrote in a letter to the state in November 2015.

    Tennessee hospitals are nervous about how the allocations will change. It's "a whole new ballgame with a new distribution system of funding for hospitals," said Craig Becker, CEO of the Tennessee Hospital Association. "We have some concerns about precisely how this will work, but we have a couple of years to work with state and federal officials to nail down details and secure needed funding for hospitals in the state."

    The CMS has increasingly resisted paying for healthcare for the uninsured now that most of them have access to coverage under the Affordable Care Act. That issue has been an obstacle to renewing waivers in other states, including California, Florida and Texas.

    California, Florida, Tennessee and Texas have heavily relied on uncompensated-care pools under Medicaid waivers.

    Last summer, Tennessee hired a consulting group at the request of the CMS to analyze the need for the pool. The firm found the funding remained critical to ensure access to care and would be necessary even if the state expanded Medicaid.

    “Even with Medicaid expansion, at least $229 million in uncompensated-care shortfall remains,” concluded the March 2016 report by the Public Consulting Group.

    Last year, the Tennessee Legislature rejected a proposal by Republican Gov. Bill Haslam to extend Medicaid coverage to 280,000 low-income residents.

    New attempts to expand Medicaid in Tennessee or in any other state are unlikely with the incoming Trump administration committed to repealing the Affordable Care Act.

    It's unclear how the new administration will view the uncompensated-care pools, but Republican congressional leaders and President-elect Donald Trump's pick for HHS secretary, U.S. Rep. Tom Price (R-Ga.), have signaled they are eager to restructure Medicare and Medicaid. It would be possible for either the administration or the state to initiate new negotiations on the waiver.

    TennCare members mostly are low-income pregnant women, children and people who are elderly or have a disability. The program covers approximately 20% of the state's population, 50% of the state's births and 50% of the state's children.

    Letter
    to the
    Editor

    Send us a letter

    Have an opinion about this story? Click here to submit a Letter to the Editor, and we may publish it in print.

    Recommended for You
    Legal-government-0225
    HHS lawsuit by Democratic AGs aims to stop restructuring, layoffs
    GettyImages-654573744.jpg
    Federal watchdog to retract medical debt collection opinion
    Most Popular
    1
    Here are new state healthcare laws taking effect in 2025
    2
    Meet Modern Healthcare's 2025 Leading Women
    3
    New York-Presbyterian layoffs affect 2% of employees
    4
    Evernorth, Optum, CenterWell units buoyed insurers in Q1
    5
    Epic CEO Judy Faulkner on AI, antitrust and consolidation
    Sponsored Content
    Modern Healthcare Alert: Sign up for this breaking news email to be kept in the loop as urgent healthcare business news unfolds.
    Get Newsletters

    Sign up for enewsletters and alerts to receive breaking news and in-depth coverage of healthcare events and trends, as they happen, right to your inbox.

    Subscribe Today
    MH Magazine Cover

    MH magazine offers content that sheds light on healthcare leaders’ complex choices and touch points—from strategy, governance, leadership development and finance to operations, clinical care, and marketing.

    Subscribe
    Connect with Us
    • LinkedIn
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • RSS

    Our Mission

    Modern Healthcare empowers industry leaders to succeed by providing unbiased reporting of the news, insights, analysis and data.

    Contact Us

    (877) 812-1581

    Email us

     

    Resources
    • Contact Us
    • Help Center
    • Advertise with Us
    • Ad Choices
    • Sitemap
    Editorial Dept
    • Submission Guidelines
    • Code of Ethics
    • Awards
    • About Us
    Legal
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Privacy Request
    Modern Healthcare
    Copyright © 1996-2025. Crain Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
    • News
      • Current News
      • Providers
      • Insurance
      • Government
      • Finance
      • Technology
      • Safety & Quality
      • Digital Health
      • Transformation
        • Patients
        • Operations
        • Care Delivery
        • Payment
      • ESG
      • People
      • Regional News
        • Midwest
        • Northeast
        • South
        • West
      • Digital Edition (Web Version)
    • Blogs
      • AI
      • Deals
      • Layoff Tracker
      • HLTH 2024
      • Sponsored Content: Vital Signs Blog
    • Opinion
      • Letters
      • From the Editor
    • Events & Awards
      • Awards
        • Nominate/Eligibility
        • 100 Most Influential People
        • 50 Most Influential Clinical Executives
        • 40 Under 40
        • Best Places to Work in Healthcare
        • Healthcare Marketing Impact Awards
        • Innovators Awards
        • Diversity Leaders
        • Leading Women
        • Best in Business Awards
      • Conferences
        • The 2030 Playbook Conference
        • Innovations in Patient Experience
        • Leading Women Conference & Awards Luncheon
        • Leadership Summit
        • Workforce Summit
      • Galas
        • Best Places to Work Awards Gala
        • Diversity Leaders Gala
      • Virtual Briefings
        • - Looking Ahead to 2025
        • - Financial Growth
        • - Hospital of the Future
        • - Value Based Care
        • - Looking Ahead to 2026
      • Webinars
    • Multimedia
      • Podcast - Beyond the Byline
      • Sponsored Podcast - Healthcare Insider
      • Sponsored Video Series - One on One
      • Sponsored Video Series - Checking In with Dan Peres
    • Data & Insights
      • Data & Insights Home
      • Hospital Financials
      • Staffing & Compensation
      • Quality & Safety
      • Mergers & Acquisitions
      • Skilled Nursing Facilities
      • Data Archive
      • Resource Guide: By the Numbers
      • Surveys
      • Data Points
    • Newsletters
    • MORE+
      • Contact Us
      • Advertise
      • Media Kit
      • Jobs
      • People on the Move
      • Reprints & Licensing
      • Sponsored Content