CoverTN RFP Released

Governor Phil Bredesen’s new health insurance program, CoverTN, took a big step forward late last week.

The state released the request for proposals late Friday. Health insurance companies will now have an opportunity to bid on the contracts to provide health insurance to small businesses with 25 or fewer employees.

Bredesen has touted the program as innovative because insurance companies will define the benefit package within the parameters set by the administration, not the other way around. The R-F-Ps were supposed to be out in late September but Bredesen says writing those guidelines has been complicated.

“It’s one thing to sit in offices in the tower of state government and then decide what you think is going to be competitive out there. It’s another thing to actually go ask some people, ‘will you bid on this?’ And are we being sensible about the way we’re doing this on things like the pricing and so on.”

Bredesen hopes to keep the average price at 150-dollars, split among the employer, the employee and the state.

R-F-Ps are also expected to be released soon for other portions of Bredesen’s health care plan including AccessTN, the high risk pool, and CoverKids, the children’s health insurance program.

All of these programs are expected to be up and running in early 2007.