Bredesen Launches CoverTN

Bredesen Launches CoverTN 3/09/07 Blake Farmer Governor Phil Bredesen launched his program for the working uninsured yesterday.

“I have the very first CoverTN card ever given to anyone, so Angie, I would like to…(applause)”

Angie Moore, who owns a Franklin fine foods shop, was the first enrollee in Cover Tennessee. The plan calls for the state, workers and employers to each pay one-third of the monthly premium of 150-dollars.

45-hundred small businesses have pre-enrolled. To qualify for the subsidized health coverage, a business must have gone without insurance for six months and have less than 25 employees.

“We learned a lot of things from the TennCare debacle and one of the things was don’t just open up the floodgates on the front end and then have to pick up the pieces later. We’re starting this with employers of under 25. I hope we’ll get our feet on the ground with that. I hope we’ll then expand it to 50. I hope we’ll then expand it to 100. But let’s just keep our hand on the steering wheel all the way through this so we don’t have to wake up and tell someone they don’t have health insurance anymore.”

The National Federation of Independent Businesses has praised Cover Tennessee but officials hope the program will be tweaked over time to include larger businesses and not require six months going bare.