Tennessee seniors stand to benefit from a legal settlement that has been tied up in court for more than a decade. Much of the $40 million is going to help elderly people with debilitating dental problems.
In all, $12.5 million will be shared among 22 charity clinics and will fund what Holly Plemons calls “transformational” dental work. She’s the project manager for Interfaith Dental, which is the lead agency.
“What we’re trying to do is help a senior be able to eat and drink and function and smile and be able to do all of those things that contribute to their overall health,” she says.
The program, Smile On 60 Plus, is set to start this fall and run for three years. To qualify, people have to be at least 60 and have no dental insurance.
Plemons notes that Tennessee has more oral problems than some other states where Medicaid covers dental health. On TennCare, only kids get a dental benefit, though there has been discussion of expanding that since oral problems often fester and lead to infections or chronic conditions.
The Davidson County Chancery Court Clerk and Master received 26 proposals for the money and
chose six, including $13 million for Habitat for Humanity of Greater Memphis and legal services for seniors statewide.
Where The Money Came From
The funding comes from two failed nonprofits that owned nursing homes but were accused by the Tennessee Attorney General of lacking truly charitable purposes. The AG, which has jurisdiction over charitable entities in the state, sued to intervene in the dissolution process.
According to
court documents, a major investor in Murfreesboro-based for-profit nursing home operators NHC and NHI formed two nonprofits in the early 2000s to acquire facilities owned by both companies. They were named ElderTrust and SeniorTrust.
While the nonprofits owned the properties, they contracted with NHC and NHI to run them. And the state suggested they were overcharging for the services — a claim that
the publicly-traded firms deny.
The Attorney General stepped in starting in 2013. A settlement was reached in 2016, requiring the nonprofits to liquidate 14 properties and put the proceeds toward charitable purposes that would be determined by the court with help from the Tennessee Commission on Aging and Disability. NHC continued to operate the facilities in question.
The
final order came down from Chancellor Ellen Hobbs Lyle late last year,
spelling out who would get the money.
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