Proposed TN care cuts - good or bad?

The new government in our state is facing tough issues in regards to our health care Medicaid program. I know that we are not alone in this plight and hope that some changes could be for the better. But I am deeply concerned when they plan on limited number of MD visits, little to no Physical Therapy, no hospice care, etc.

It seems like this is overkill in many places. Not all patients on TNcare are over using the system. As a working doctor in upper rural TN I already deal with treating multiple chronic diseases with only five scripts for medicine a month, with a few exceptions, and it takes my nurses an extra 20-40 minutes per prior authorization that we need.

Could we not make sensible changes instead of saying no MRI or limited visits, let's set up a copay system for these patients. This would cut down on unnecessary office visits and ED visits as well. I would even allow for a refund of fees if there were an emergency.

As a provider it seems to me that some not all of the Medicaid patients have no responsiblity to their end of their treatments.

How can we as a society fix healthcare cost without addressing this fundamental flaw?

So while I applaud the efforts for reform, further tieing my hands as a provider will only lead to trouble and more work with less time for actual patient care.

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