My Latest Column
My latest Nashville City Paper column, published in the Friday, April 26, City Paper and on its website, was chopped for space. My fault - I got it in late, and ad sales and other stories had eaten up much of my space. But it was a good one. So here it is, the way I wrote it:

Why TennCare must die
Read the massive audit of TennCare and you'll know TennCare cannot be reformed or managed right. The audit was released March 28, but neither TennCare nor the Sundquist administration bothered to bring it to the public's attention. You can see why. It supports the view that TennCare is the primary cause of the state's budget woes.

The truth is, TennCare wasted half a billion dollars of taxpayer money last year through its woeful – and chronic – mismanagement and high level of tolerance for fraud and abuse. But the Sundquist administration won't fix the TennCare mess, preferring an income tax to pay for TennCare's ever-inflating cost and rampant waste.

TennCare spent $48 million last year providing healthcare to thousands of people who apparently don't live in Tennessee or, in some cases, in the United States. TennCare's response to that huge waste of money exposes the taxpayers-be-damned mindset of its bureaucracy and the governor at the other end of the leash.

Lola Potter, official spokesperson for the boondoggle, told another publication, told another publication that it isn't necessarily a waste of $48 million because "people in other states pay for two-thirds of the program."

True, the federal government pays for two thirds of TennCare's $5.3 billion (and skyrocketing) annual cost. But gee whiz Lola, hard-working Tennesseans do pay the other third, don't they? That's $1.76 billion, of which some $16 million was wasted on healthcare for people who don't live here – and don't pay taxes here.

That $16 million could fund some state parks, or pay some teachers – or almost cover the $17 million that Gov. Sundquist's can't-be-cut budget allocates to development of "Greek Row" at Middle Tennessee State University. Apparently, we're helping fraternities and sororities with their college living arrangements.

The TennCare audit is more shocking when you realize that last year's audit found much the same mismanagement and waste. And so did the one the year before that, and … so on.

I quote from the audit: "As noted in the six prior audits of the Bureau of TennCare, internal control over TennCare eligibility is not adequate."

Or, as state Comptroller John Morgan said, the audit's findings "were very similar to prior years.''

The audit also found double dipping. TennCare paid the state Department of Children's Services $1.7 million for services that it had already paid its managed-care organizations to provide. And TennCare allowed some people to enroll twice and made double payments to the insurance companies that provide benefits to TennCare enrollees. The audit said TennCare has no way to ensure it is not making duplicate payments.

That's just the tip. Here's the iceberg:

TennCare spent $465 million to insure more than 130,000 people who gave TennCare a P.O. box as an address, even though federal regulations say TennCare is not supposed to enroll people who don't provide a street address. Chances are, most of those P.O. boxes are people who don't live in Tennessee.

But hey, it's only $465 million and, after all, as Lola Potter, official spokesperson for the money pit, says, people in other states are paying two thirds of it. So you, dear Tennessee taxpayer, should not mind picking up the rest of the tab for such waste and mismanagement.

After all, TennCare is not the cause of the budget crisis (wink, wink). So just shut up and pay your income tax.

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The TennCare audit, part of a massive audit of federally-funded state programs, is online here. Don't read it unless you are prepared to be physically sickened by the way the state mismanages your hard-earned tax dollars.