Many Tennessee hospitals are in trouble as they try to stabilize after the trauma of COVID-19. The Tennessee Hospital Association has published a new survey that finds: Now that pandemic relief money has dried up, nearly half are at risk of closure.
Blake Farmer, Senior Healthcare Reporter
Blake Farmer is Nashville Public Radio's senior health care reporter. In a partnership with Kaiser Health News and NPR, Blake covers health in Tennessee and the health care industry in the Nashville area for local and national audiences.
Tennessee Republicans are making permanent a rule to shield businesses from COVID-related litigation
Tennessee Republicans are taking temporary rules and making them permanent to try to shield businesses from COVID-related litigation, along with other COVID-era protections. The legislation is moving quickly, and with little debate.
ERs staffed by private equity firms aim to cut costs by hiring fewer doctors
Pregnant and scared, Natasha Valle went to Clarksville’s Tennova Healthcare hospital in January 2021 because she was bleeding. She didn’t know much about miscarriage, but this seemed like one.
TennCare uses scare tactics and aggressive enforcement to root out fraud. With millions spent, the agency has little to show for it.
The state’s low-income health insurance program, TennCare, funds an outside unit dedicated to rooting out potential fraud. After millions of dollars spent each year, it has less and less to show for the effort aside from slapping Tennesseans with felonies unnecessarily.
TennCare would cover more pregnancies and diapers under proposal from Gov. Bill Lee
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee is proposing a significant expansion of the state’s Medicaid program, known as TennCare, using money from a new deal negotiated with the Trump Administration described as a “block grant.”
Child welfare advocates ask DCS to look to previous federal oversight for a path forward
Tennessee’s Department of Children’s Services could stand to revisit federal oversight that lifted in 2017, say child welfare advocates and legal experts. The court settlement known as “Brian A” required that the state spend money on critical improvements, like having enough case managers so they didn’t handle more than 20 children at a time.
TennCare is trying to simplify annual income reviews for post-pandemic restart
Tennessee’s Medicaid agency is trying to avoid cutting benefits for people just because of paperwork problems. In April, TennCare will restart its income reviews, which have been paused for three years.
Tennessee ACA enrollment spikes 27% as non-Medicaid expansion states lead record growth
Nationwide, enrollment in Affordable Care Act Marketplace plans has hit another record, jumping 13% from last year’s record. But almost all of the gains are from states like Tennessee that have refused to expand Medicaid.
Tennessee’s new health chief dodges grilling over dropped HIV funding
Tennessee’s new commissioner of health made his first appearance before a legislative committee Wednesday, though the Republican chairman warned members not to question Dr. Ralph Alvarado about HIV funding.
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