Congressmen Cohen and Cooper Applaud Biden Administration for Asking Tennessee to Undo Medicaid Block Grant Plan in Response to Public Outcry

WASHINGTON - Congressmen Steve Cohen (TN-09) and Jim Cooper (TN-05) today applauded the Biden Administration's Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) for askingTennessee to rethink major changes that would have turned Tennessee's Medicaid program, known as TennCare, into a block grant. This request makes it likelier that the state will create a Medicaid program that provides better care and access to Tennesseans in need.

Congressman Cohen has been a harsh critic of Governor Bill Lee's efforts to block grant TennCare. He wrote to state and federal officials seeking to prevent it in advance of the Trump Administration's decision to approve the block grant waiver. Congressman Cohen also wrote to then-President-elect Biden asking him to rescind approval for the block grant waiver. He has also written directly to TennCare and submitted his concernsto the most recent federal public comment period. After reviewing the public comments, CMS said that it has "significant concerns about components of the demonstration and whether they promote the objectives of Medicaid and should be supported under section 1115 authority."

Congressman Cohen made the following statement:

"I am pleased to see that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services agreed that Tennesseans deserve a fully funded TennCare program that looks to serve the interests of our state's elderly, disabled and low-income residents. The 'flexibility' Republicans sought would have created an incentive for the state to cut benefits so cost savings could be redirected elsewhere. This decision is a win for Tennessee and for all the Tennesseans who stood up against this plan."

Congressman Cooper made the following statement:

"The Biden Administration did the right thing by listening to the concerns that Tennesseans raised during the public comment period. As I've been saying all along, Tennessee needs to go back to the drawing board. The capped funding, closed drug formulary, and unregulated use of so-called 'shared savings' should never have been approved. If Tennessee really wants to put the health of Tennesseans first, they should have expanded Medicaid. Now is the moment to step up."

In its letterto the state, CMS proposes the following changes to the TennCare III waiver:

• Asks the state to submit a new financing and budget neutrality model, based on a traditional per member per month cap, instead of an aggregate cap (i.e. block grant). Additionally, Tennessee should modify its rules to more explicitly state that Tennessee cannot cut benefits or coverage in effect on December 31, 2021 without an amendment to the demonstration, subject to additional public comment period and CMS approval.
• Instead of allowing Tennessee to unilaterally redirect Medicaid funding to other programs, CMS asks the state to include in the demonstration amendment a request for expenditure authority for state reinvestments for initiatives that the state would like to support with budget neutrality savings (e.g., adult dental services, expanded 12-month postpartum coverage and enhanced home and community-based services; et c.).
• Eliminate the closed formulary, which allows TennCare to restrict which medications it covers instead of having to cover all FDA-approved drugs, as in other states.

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