EFFECTS OF TENNCARE ON TENNESSEE HOSPITALS
Author(s): Chinyere Ogbonna-McGruder
The cost of providing health care has been escalating within the United States. This is especially true of the governmental Medicaid health care program. As such, the rising health care costs experienced by many states, have led during the past two decades, to enactment or shift towards the enactment of legislation that would reform the way that health care is provided and paid for within individual states. The health care reform plan implemented on January 1st 1994, by the State of Tennessee is known as TennCare. The health care reform program's main objectives, were concurrent control of rapidly rising health care costs and extension of health care coverage to a large uninsured Tennessee population, that did not have access to employer sponsored or other government sponsored health insurance. Beneficiaries were enrolled in competing, state chartered managed care organizations that were paid on a capitation basis. Such organizations were responsible for providing broad health care services ranging from inpatient, outpatient and preventive services. This research is focused on analyzing the effects of TennCare health care reform program on all the hospitals in Tennessee. The research will indicate if the reform program had a general negative effect on the well being of Tennessee hospitals. This is important to know especially with the newly enacted March 23rd 2010, Federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which was also implemented with the main goals of ensuring universal health coverage while reining in rising health care costs.
Keywords: TennCare, Disproportionate Share Hospitals, Non Disproportionate Share Hospitals, Average Daily Census, Admissions and Discharges, Profit, Medicaid, Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Medicare, Managed Care, Social Security Act, Eligibility Standards, Universal Coverage.
