►
Description
House Health Committee- February 23, 2022- House Hearing Room 1
A
A
A
A
A
A
Okay,
seeing
none,
we
have
six
items
on
the
calendar
today
and
then,
following
that
we
will
have
a
budget
presentation
from
tenncare
and
then
I
would
just
ask
that
the
members,
when
we
start
talking
to
tenncare,
to
keep
their
questions
and
comments
related
to
the
budget.
So
with
that
without
objection,
we
will
go
into
our
calendar
item
number
one
house
bill
two:
three,
four,
eight
chairman
how
you
have
motion
a
second
you're
recognized.
C
This
bill,
mr
chairman,
seeks
to
clarify
law
regarding
mental
health
transports.
If
you
recall
a
couple
of
years
ago,
we
passed
legislation
to
relieve
our
county,
sheriffs
of
the
obligation
of
of
having
to
transport
mental
health.
Excuse
me
mental
health
patients
and
basically,
what
we
did
unfortunately,
was
treated
our
mental
health
patients
like
criminals.
C
C
For
example,
in
my
district
alone
in
bradley
county,
the
bradley
county
sheriff's
office
before
this
grant
program
was
passed,
was
forced
to
spend
about
108
180
000
a
year
in
overtime
and
lodging
anytime.
They
received
a
call
from
the
local
er
hospital
that
they
had
a
mental
health
patient
that
needed
to
be
transported
to
memphis,
for
example,
or
moccasin
ben.
C
So
we
thanks
to
the
late
chairman,
mike
carter,
who
helped
establish
a
state
grant
program
to
allow
these
sheriffs
to
use,
grant
funds
to
establish
either
an
in-house
transport
program
or
partner
and
contract
with
a
secondary
medical
transport
service,
and
that's
what
my
sheriff
did.
Several
other
sheriffs
around
the
state
did
the
same
thing.
C
Bradley
county
contracted
with
a
16
year
old
company,
who
agreed
to
do
just
the
medical
transports.
This
is
not
an
ems
service
that
they're
providing
it's
medical
transport
of
mental
health
patients
at
no
cost
to
the
taxpayer,
because,
because
the
medical
transports
are
a
billable
expense
to
that
patient's
insurance
and
that's
what
they
do,
what
this
bill
seeks
to
do
is
to
clarify
and
make
it
explicitly
clear
that,
based
on
current
law,
additional
licenses
are
not
required.
C
So
this
bill
makes
it
explicitly
clear
that
if
a
medical
transport
company
holds
a
valid
license
in
one
or
more
counties
in
tennessee,
they
are
not
required
to
hold
a
separate
license
or
establish
a
base
of
operations
in
every
county
where
they
provide
mental
health.
Transport.
With
that,
mr
chairman,
I'll,
be
glad
to
take
questions
if
they
have
any.
A
Do
know
members
have
any
questions:
okay,
sing,
none.
We
will
vote
on
house
bill,
2,
3,
4,
8.,
all
those
in
favor
say
aye
aye
opposed
eyes.
Have
it
bill
goes
on
to
calendar
and
rules.
Thank
you,
mr
chairman
committee.
You're
welcome.
That
brings
us
to
item
number
two
house
bill:
two:
zero:
zero.
Five
chairman
crawford,
you're
recognized.
B
She
hired
a
young
lady,
not
a
young
lady,
but
she
hired
a
lady
out
of
california
to
come
to
work
for
and
when
she
got
here,
she
was
very
distraught
to
find
out
that
her
license
was
no
good
in
the
state
of
tennessee.
This
is
a
lady
who's
been
licensed
for
about
30
years
in
california
practicing,
and
so
it's
a
problem
that
we're
having
through
the
whole
state,
and
so
it
just
kind
of
shined
a
lot
on
our
reciprocal
agreements
with
the
massage
therapy
license.
B
So
what
my
bill
does
is
it
basically
allows
for
a
temporary
license
for
six
months.
It
allows
whoever
if
they
are
a
licensed,
massage
therapist
in
another
state
and
in
good
standing,
then
that
gives
them
six
weeks
to
get
the
temporary
license
that
they
need
to
go
through
the
two
tests
that
tennessee
requires
they've
got
two
different
tests
that
they
require
to
be
a
licensed,
massage
therapist,
and
it
takes
about
six
months
or
so
to
get
all
that
done.
B
A
A
D
Thank
you,
mr
chairman
and
members.
First,
let
me
say
it's
an
a
privilege
to
stand
before
the
best
committee,
with
the
best
chairman
in
the
history
of
the
tennessee
general
assembly,
including
my
seat
mate,
as
well
as
the
gentleman
that
I've
known
the
longest
of
anyone
in
this
room
house.
Bill
2054.
D
Currently,
state
law
states
that
only
a
funeral
director
or
an
individual,
acting
as
a
funeral
director
may
start
the
death
certificate
and
frequently
hospitals
and
medical
examiners
start
the
death
certificate
process.
Under
this
bill
it
will
ensure
that
hospitals,
medical
examiners
and
funeral
directors
are
all
a
part
of
the
death
certificate
process.
This
bill
is
being
brought
to
you
by
the
tennessee
funeral
directors
association
working
closely
with
the
tennessee
department
of
health
and
the
office
of
vital
records.
D
A
You,
okay,
we
we
have
an
amendment
amendment
zero,
one
three,
six,
two
three
is
that
correct.
A
D
A
Okay,
you
have
a
motion,
a
second
on
the
amendment.
Do
we
have
any
questions
on
the
amendment?
Okay,
sing.
None!
Let's
vote
on
the
amendment,
all
those
in
favor
say:
aye
aye
opposed
eyes.
Have
it.
Okay,
we
are
back
on
the
bill
as
amended
any
questions
of
the
committee
for
the
sponsor
seeing
none.
We
are
voting
on
house
bill
2054,
all
those
in
favor
say
aye
opposed
eyes.
Have
it
bill
goes
on
to
calendar
and
rolls?
Thank
you
all
right.
That
brings
us
to
item
number
four
house
bill.
A
A
F
Motion
second,
thank
you,
mr
chairman,
and
I
just
want
to
say,
representative
campbell
stole
my
introduction,
but
house.
Joint
resolution0733
is
a
pledge
by
members
of
the
general
assembly
to
end
the
use
of
derogatory
language
in
conversation
or
code
directed
toward
or
about
citizens
and
constituents
with
intellectual
or
developmental
disabilities.
F
However,
these
words
and
forms
of
these
words
continue
to
be
used.
Often
we
hear
people
in
positions
of
trust
and
responsibility
say
things
like
he
is
a
that's
a
thing
to
say,
he's
so
stupid
that
he
has
an
extra
chromosome
or
even
oh,
I've
been.
I
have
to
be
not
to
understand
that
folks.
We
need
to
end
this.
F
These
top
words,
even
when
not
directly
stated
about
people
with
intellectual
disabilities,
have
a
devastating
effect
as
they
further
negative
stereotypes,
hurt
and
isolate
those
with
disabilities
and
those
who
love
them
and
ultimately
work
against
our
inclusion
of
our
most
at-risk
citizens
and
their
families.
This
resolution
shows
these
valuable
citizens.
They
are
important
to
us
and
we
respect
them
as
individual
individuals.
With
that,
mr
chairman,
I
renew
my
motion.
A
All
right,
thank
you.
Do
we
have
any
questions
or
comments
from
the
committee?
Okay,
none
thank
you
for
bringing
this.
I
think
this
does
send
a
good
message
that
we
that
we
do
need
to
send.
So
without
objection
we'll
be
voting
on
house
joint
resolution
733,
all
those
in
favor
say
aye
opposed
eyes
have
it
goes
on
to
calendar
and
rules.
Thank.
F
A
G
That's
what
I've
got
is
that
correct?
Okay,
I
need
a
motion,
let's
go
ahead
and
get
a
motion.
Second,
on
the
amendment
got
motion.
Second,
on
the
amendment
chairman,
terry
you're,
recognized.
A
Right
all
right,
thank
you.
This
bill
would
enter
tennessee
into
two
interstate
compacts
section.
One
of
the
bill
is
for
occupational
therapists
and
part.
Two
is
for
audiologists
and
speak
speech.
Language
pathologists.
The
compacts
would
allow
reciprocity
between
these
professions
and
other
compact
states.
This
amendment
that
we
are
hopefully
going
to
put
on
clarifies
that
in
section
two,
there
is
no
change
in
the
scope
of
practice
for
audiologists
and
speech
language
pathologists,
and
it
also
corrects
a
typographical
error.
G
A
Thank
you
committee,
all
right
with
that.
We
do
have
a
presentation
we'll
go
out
of
session,
for
that
we
have
tenncare.
Now
we
have
our
team
here
with
us.
I,
when
we
do
a
go
out
of
session,
we
start
taking
questions
again.
I
want
to
remind
the
members,
this
is
a
budget
presentation
and
let's
keep
our
questions
and
comments
to
the
budget.
So
with
that
we
will
go
out
of
session.
H
Thank
you
very
much,
mr
chairman
and
members.
It's
a
privilege
to
be
with
you
today.
My
name
is
stephen
smith.
I
serve
as
the
tenncare
director
with
me
to
my
left
is
zane
seals.
Our
chief
financial
officer
to
my
right
is
dr
victor
wu,
our
chief
medical
officer
and
patty
killingsworth,
our
chief
of
long-term
services,
and
supports.
H
H
I
always
try
to
center
our
internal
and
external
conversations
on
our
mission
and
that
is
to
improve
lives
through
high
quality,
cost-effective
care,
because
as
a
medicaid
program
and
as
a
state,
we
have
to
be
successful
with
both
things
and
sometimes
unfortunately,
in
the
medicaid
world.
There's
this
accepted
narrative
that
that
cost-effective
piece
must,
by
definition,
come
at
the
expense
of
quality
or
access,
and
that's
actually
not
the
case.
We've
proven
as
a
state
that
we
can
be
successful
at
both
and
I
would
argue,
the
two
actually
go
hand
in
hand.
H
H
We've
come
a
long
way
in
our
medicaid
program,
but,
as
we've
talked
about
with
this
committee
before
it
really
wasn't
that
long
ago,
that
double-digit
growth
trends
threatened
the
very
existence
of
tenncare,
and
I
bring
that
up,
because
sometimes
people
will
say
to
me
that
if,
if
10k
really
believed
in
this
mission,
then
you
would
cover
more
people
and
you
would
pay
for
more
things
and
you
would
pay
providers
more
for
providing
those
things
and
the
reality
is.
Of
course
it's
not.
That
simple,
and
one
of
the
reasons
why
it's
not.
H
That
simple
is
because
of
the
impact
that
the
tenncare
budget
has
on
the
overall
state
budget.
As
you
all
know,
tenncare
represents
a
third
of
the
state's
budget,
so
what
that
means
then
is
if
we
are
unable
to
control
costs
to
a
reasonable
level.
There
won't
be
any
funds
left
over
for
all
of
the
other
state
priorities
and
the
record
k-12
education
improvement.
H
When
we
think
about
our
major
investments
that
we're
proposing
here,
we
group
them
into
three
buckets:
people
benefits
and
providers
and
I'll
start
with
people.
This
budget
will
increase
the
number
of
people
that
we
are
serving
in
tenncare.
It
will
do
it
in
a
targeted
and
responsible
manner.
It
recommends
nearly
100
million
dollars,
combined
state
and
federal
funding
on
a
recurring
basis
to
serve
more
than
2
000
additional
people
in
our
employment
and
community
first
choices
program
that
will
reduce
the
waiting
list
by
more
than
half.
H
H
In
addition,
this
budget
will
allow
us
to
serve
an
additional
1
750
individuals
in
our
choices
program,
that
is
a
program
designed
for
seniors
and
adults
with
physical
disabilities.
This
increase
will
focus
specifically
on
providing
services
in
the
home
for
those
that
are
at
risk
of
institutional
care
and
allow
the
enrollees
to
live
as
independently
as
possible.
H
This
second
piece
is
part
of
our
medicaid
alternative
pathways
or
maps
program,
which
is
something
the
governor
highlighted
in
the
state
of
the
state
address
is
something
that
we
are
really
excited
about.
I
said
earlier
that
we
are
targeting
our
increases
in
a
responsible
manner,
one
that
recognizes
the
importance
of
sound,
responsible
and
conservative
budgeting
and
the
maps
program,
and
this
item
are
perfect
examples
of
that
strategy
nationally
and
here
in
tennessee.
H
There
is
a
lot
of
discussion
about
adding
more
people
to
medicaid,
but
we
should
also
be
talking
about
the
things
that
we
can
do
to
prevent
people
from
needing
medicaid
in
the
first
place
or
from
needing
a
higher
cost
medicaid
service.
So
that
includes
all
the
things
that
the
state
is
doing
in
terms
of
education
and
jobs
and
economic
development,
but
it
also
includes
the
kinds
of
investments
that
we
are
proposing
through
the
maps
program.
H
H
There
is
strong
evidence
that
dental
services
lead
to
improved
oral
health,
of
course,
but
also
improved
behavioral
and
mental
health
and
increased
employment
opportunities.
In
addition,
this
benefit
will
reduce
the
high
cost
trips
to
the
emergency
department
to
for
to
treat
oral
emergencies
in
the
most
recent
completed
year.
Where
we
have
data,
we
spent
more
than
10
million
dollars
on
emergency
department
services
related
to
dental
and
oral
health
issues.
H
It's
a
series
of
evidence-based
initiatives
that
provide
clinical
supports
resources
and
technology
enhancements,
and
this
is
a
subject-
that's
really
important
in
medicaid
and
the
healthcare
space,
because
studies
show
that
up
to
forty
to
sixty
percent
of
an
individual's
health
is
related
to
these
factors,
meaning
that
if
we
can
be
a
bridge
to
addressing
these
issues,
we
can
improve
health
and
greatly
reduce
the
cost
of
health
care
and
then
next
I'll
pivot
to
providers.
This
budget
increases
payments
to
our
providers
in
a
big
way.
I
can't
say
enough
about
our
providers.
H
Our
ten
care
providers,
they
have
been
under
intense
stress
and
strain
and
yet
they've
been
they've,
remained
committed
to
the
people
that
we
serve
in
tenncare
in
the
state
of
tennessee,
and
when
we
talk
about
quality
and
access,
it's
our
providers
that
deserve
the
credit
recognizing
the
workforce
challenges
that
many
of
our
providers
are
facing,
as
well
as
the
previously
mentioned
investments
to
serve
more
people
and
enhance
services.
H
As
I
wrap
my
prepared
comments,
mr
chairman,
I
do
think
it's
important
to
circle
back
to
a
major
policy
initiative
that
this
general
assembly
approved
in
january
of
last
year,
and
that
is
our
tenncare
3
waiver,
contrary
to
what
some
believe,
we've
actually
been
operating
under
this
waiver
now
for
more
than
a
year.
In
fact,
we
just
completed
our
first
year
of
the
waiver
and
it's
a
10-year
waiver.
As
a
reminder.
H
Under
this
waiver,
tennessee
has
the
unique
opportunity
to
be
rewarded
for
its
efficiency
and
sound
management
of
our
medicaid
program,
and
that
comes
in
the
form
of
additional
federal
dollars
that
we
refer
to
as
shared
savings,
and
then
we
will
reinvest
those
savings
back
into
our
tenncare
program
and
the
benefits
and
the
services
that
we
provide
to
our
tenncare
members.
So
the
very
kinds
of
things
that
we
just
talked
about.
This
is
how
we
are
able
to
accomplish
that.
H
As
we
have
said
all
along
tenncare
three
is
about
more:
it's
not
about
less,
I'm
more
convinced
than
ever
that
this
waiver
is
good
for
tennessee,
it's
good
for
the
people
that
we
serve
at
the
end
of
the
day.
It's
about
improving
health
which
drives
down
health
care
costs
which
results
in
shared
savings
which
results
in
a
reinvestment
of
savings
back
into
the
program
which
improves
health,
and
then
the
cycle
starts
all
over
again.
H
A
F
Thank
you,
mr
chairman
and
director
smith,
and
thank
you
and
your
team.
I
just
want
to
compliment
you
on
making
sure
there's
not
a
waiting
list
for
the
katie
beckett
program,
part
a
and
b,
mrs
gillinsworth.
Thank
you
so
much
for
making
that
happen,
and-
and
I
had
a
lady
stop
me
at
a
restaurant
and
talk
about
how
this
program
has
changed
their
lives,
and
I
appreciate
the
skill
and
the
determination
that
y'all
do
in
administering
this
program.
It's
greatly
appreciated
it's
making
a
difference
in
people's
lives.
F
I
just
want
to
tell
you
that
and
real
quick.
I
saw
something
about
the
alzheimer's
drug
that
you
list.
Can
you
just
briefly
tell
me
the
benefits
or
how
that
works,
because
there's
a
lot
of
interest
in
that
that
we
deal
with
with
the
alzheimer's
association
of
tennessee
and
the
tennessee
alzheimer's
tennessee.
H
This
is
a
this
is
a
interesting
issue.
It's
it's
a
complex
issue.
There
actually
was
a
lot
of
controversy
around
the
fda's
approval
of
this
drug.
Ultimately,
the
fda
did
approve
the
drug,
and
so
once
the
fda
approves
a
drug.
Currently
medicaid
programs
have
to
have
to
cover
it,
so
we
will
be
covering
the
drug.
H
So
what
that
means-
and
it's
a
point
of
frustration
for
medicaid
programs
across
the
country-
is
that
for
anyone
that
does
not
participate
in
the
clinical
trials
and
is
prescribed,
the
drug
medicaid
will
have
to
cover
it
100
percent,
which
means
the
state
the
states
are
on
the
hook
for
a
significant
portion
of
that.
H
We
there's
a
lot
of
unknowns
about
this.
We
we
don't
know
how
many
individuals
outside
outside
of
the
clinical
trials
or
even
in
the
clinical
trials.
We
don't
know
how
many
will
participate
and
then
we
don't
know
how
many
will
seek
the
drug
outside
of
the
clinical
trials
and
we
don't
know
how
many
providers,
if
any,
will
prescribe
the
drug
to
individuals
that
have
not
participated
in
the
clinical
trials.
We
have
had
no
claims
to
date,
but
there's
a
lot
that
remains
unknown,
we're
actually
awaiting
additional
cms
guidance.
H
I
think
we're
supposed
to
get
that
in
the
next
couple
of
weeks.
That
will
tell
us
more
this.
This
number,
this
projection
is
based
on
the
number
of
individuals
on
tenncare
that
are
that
have
an
alzheimer's
diagnosis,
and
then
we
determined
what
utilization
level
we
expected
and
we
applied
the
the
cost
of
the
drug.
The
cost
has
come
down
some,
but
at
the
same
time
the
cost
was
decreased.
That's
when
we
found
out
that
medicare
would
only
be
covering
for
those
that
participate
in
the
clinical
trials.
H
So
we
will
probably
have
to
come
back
to
you
at
some
point
with
adjusted
figures,
because
these
are
our
best
estimates,
but
we
just
there's
a
lot
of
unknowns,
still
very.
E
Thank
you,
mr
chairman.
My
question
is:
is
how
you're
going
to
be
able
to
serve
rural
counties?
I
know
I
have
constituents
now
that
have
children
under
10
care
they
had
to
drive.
You
know
an
hour
away,
just
to
find
a
dental
care
service
for
them.
H
Well
that
that
shouldn't
be
the
case
we
we
haven't,
we
believe
we
have
an
adequate
network,
certainly
for
children
that
are
receiving
dental
services.
If
we
have
a
case
where
a
child
is
having
to
drive
an
hour,
we
would
we
want
to
know
about
that,
because
we
would
want
to
address
it
with
our
dental
benefits
manager.
H
The
the
adequacy
of
the
network,
of
course,
is
going
to
be
really
important
as
we
expand
to
adults
and
that's
something
that
we
we're
going
to
work
on
and
and
really
is
that
this
this
enhanced
benefit
is
part
of
of
this
package.
That's
in
the
governor's
budget.
H
It's
coupled
with
the
department
of
health
recommendation
that
really
is
tied
to
recruitment
and
retention
of
dental
providers,
dentists,
and
also
we
have
the
rate
increase
and
all
this
kind
of
ties
together
to
try
to
make
sure
that
we
do
have
an
adequate
network
for
tenncare
that
can
serve
both
our
children
but
also
serve
the
600
000
adults,
but
I
would
be
interested.
Maybe
we
can
circle
back
and
I
can
get
that
information
from
you.
Okay,
thank.
G
E
H
You
for
for
the
question
we
we
actually
have
started
this.
We
were
able
to
start
it
with
arp
dollars
that
were
appropriated
specifically
for
home
and
community
based
service
program.
So
when
you
look
at
the
line
items
for
that
workforce
development
that
says
50
million
dollars,
that's
this
first
piece
of
this
wage
increase
and
you'll
see
a
zero
by
the
state
funding
because
we're
able
to
use
arp
dollars
and
then
once
the
arp
dollars
expire,
we
will
pick
that
up
with
the
state
portion.
H
H
H
Typically,
the
reason
they
give
for
that
is
because
they
say
they
need
to
pay
their
workers
more,
and
we
agree
with
that.
So
we
think
it's
appropriate
that
we
require
those
dollars
to
be
passed
on
to
those
direct
service
providers,
and
I
may
turn
this
over
to
patty,
to
give
a
little
bit
more
detail
about
the
process,
though,.
I
Thank
you
so
much
for
the
question.
In
terms
of
implementation,
we
received
expansion
authority
to
receive
and
expend
the
federal
funds.
I
think
on
november
2nd-
and
we
begin
immediately
thereafter
then,
with
the
process.
It
does
require
an
attestation
from
the
provider
that
they
will
in
fact
pass
those
funds
along
to
the
front
line
workforce
and
then
the
rates
were
retroactive
to
july
1
of
2021..
I
So
for
providers
who've
completed
the
attestation,
the
rates
are
in
effect
and
the
claims
have
been
retroactively,
adjusted
that
covers
the
first
50
million.
Then
the
second
about
45
million
would
be
an
additional
increase
on
top
of
that
which,
if
approved,
would
be
implemented
on
july
1st
of
this
coming
year
and
would
take
the
amount
that
is
accounted
for
in
the
rates
up
to
13.75
per
hour
on,
as
an
average
hourly
wage
for
that
frontline
workforce.
A
All
right,
thank
you,
representative,
kim
you're
recognized.
B
Chairman,
thank
you,
director
and
staff.
Two
quick
questions,
one
under
choices.
I
believe
what
I
want
to
find
out
is
dealing
with
the
1500
per
year.
B
I
So
the
choices
program-
yes
you're
exactly
right-
serves
older
adults
and
adults
with
physical
disabilities.
The
choices
program
actually
does
include
a
population
of
people
who
choose
to
receive
services
in
a
nursing
home,
but
there's
a
large
number
of
people
who
choose
to
receive
their
services
at
home.
The
choices
group
three
item
is
for
one
of
those
populations
of
people
who
who
don't
actually
qualify
for
care
in
a
nursing
home,
but
it
does
help
to
delay
their
need
for
a
higher
level
of
care
by
making
those
services
available
to
them
all
right.
B
Thank
you,
and
secondly,
you're
speaking
earlier,
I
believe
about
alzheimer's
drug
and
so
forth.
Am
I
correct
that
entities
like
john
hopkins
and
others
have
great
pause
of
concern
in
regards
to
that
particular
drug.
H
There
there
were,
there
was
a
lot
of
concern
raised
by
several
individuals
when
that
was
going
through
the
fda
approval
process
and
in
fact
there
was
a
committee
that
makes
a
recommendation
to
the
fda
and
the
committee
did
recommend
it
against
approval
and
then
the
fda
approved
it
even
with
that
recommendation,
so
there
was,
there
was
a
lot
of
a
lot
of
controversy
about
it
all
right.
Thank
you
very
much.
Thank.
A
You
miss
jim,
I
thank
you,
chairman
ramsey.
You
recognize.
G
Thank
you,
mr
chairman,
and
director
smith,
appreciate
your
presentation,
appreciate
the
great
service
you
and
your
staff.
We
love
dealing
with
your
liaisons
they're,
very
open
and
helpful.
G
H
We
we
we
don't
know.
Ultimately,
the
general
assembly
will
have
a
say
in
that.
I
can
tell
you
that,
if
the
fastest
way
to
implement
this
would
be
would
be
to
amend
the
existing
contract
and,
of
course,
we'll
have
to
come
to
fiscal
review
for
approval
of
that,
that's
the
fastest
way
to
get
it
implemented.
H
Otherwise
we
would
have
to
do
a
new
procurement
and
that
will
that
will
put
it
that'll
put
it
off.
You
know
several
months.
G
And-
and
I
I
once
again
appreciate
where
you're
going
with
this
we've,
we've
had
a
great
relationship
with
denna
quest
and
look
forward
to
dealing
with
them
again
and
they've
they've
kind
of
become
the
go-to
with
issues
from
providers
and
and
have
done
a
good
job
of
it
in
communication,
so
I'll
be
open
for
information
and
help
you
in
any
way
that
I
can
appreciate
you
very
much.
A
E
Thank
you.
I
want
to
touch
with
what
chairman
whitson
was
talking
about
the
katie
beckett
program,
very
proud
of
it.
I
noticed,
though,
that
the
projection,
I
guess
of
enrollment
for
numbers,
were
high
compared
to
what
the
enrollment
is.
E
H
Thanks
for
the
question
so
when,
when
this
was
going
through
the
the
legislative
approval
process
a
couple
years
ago,
we
actually
didn't
know
what
the
demand
was
going
to
be,
and
so
we
worked
with
the
tennessee
disability
coalition
to
try
to
come
up
with
what
we
thought
was
the
best
projection
with
the
information
that
we
had
at
the
time.
But
but
we
said
all
along,
we
we
didn't
know
what
the
demand
was
going
to
be.
To
date,
we
we
have
had
2100
applications
for
the
program.
H
If
you
look
at
our
enrollment,
we
have
about
1600
that
are
enrolled
and
that
is
either
enrolled
or
they
are
awaiting
eligibility
determination.
So
I
don't.
I
don't
look
at
the
fact
that
we've
received
21
about
2100
applications.
H
I
don't
look
at
that
as
a
negative,
because
we
really
didn't
know
what
the
demand
was
going
to
be.
I
think
we've
done
a
lot
of
outreach
and
I
I
think
that
overall,
there's
been
people
are
pleased
with
the
process
and-
and
I
know
the
people
that
are
in
the
program
are
very
pleased
with
the
process.
We
continue
to
have
conversations
and
communication
with
the
technical
advisory
group
that
was
established
specifically
for
the
katie
beckett
program.
H
That's
made
up
of
of
advocates,
and
parents
and
individuals
from
tencare
and
also
our
sister
agency
didd
there.
There
are
things
there
are
choices
that
we
that
we
could
make.
We
could
lower
the
the
level
of
care
eligibility
that
would
allow
more
people
to
be
eligible
for
the
program.
H
But
if,
if
we
do
that,
then
we
run
the
risk
of
individuals
that
have
more
complex
needs,
presenting
later
and
and
they're
not
being
a
spot,
and
so
we
want
to
be
very
careful
with
that.
If
we
look
at
our
current
enrollment
our
monthly
enrollment,
then
we
believe
that
all
the
part
a
slots
will
be
filled
by
the
end
of
this
calendar
year
december
2022,
part
b.
It
will
be
into
2023
at
the
current
rate,
but
we
will
eventually
get
there,
but
we
could
make
the
choice
to
get
there
faster
by
lowering
the
eligibility
standards.
E
E
H
H
H
It's
just
it's
in
our
reserve
and
then
every
year
of
course
we're
getting
another
appropriation
for
the
full
for
the
full
amount
tap
it.
Okay.
J
Famous
chairman-
and
I
just
want
to
follow
up
on
that
real
quick-
this
one-
I
wasn't
going
to
ask
about
this,
but
did
you
I
didn't
hear
the
answer?
Did
you
say
that
there
was
money
allocated
to
market
this,
the
katie
beckett
program
to
get
more
enrollees
or
no.
J
Okay,
thank
you
and,
and
so
what
I
was
really
going
to
focus
on
was
the
the
dental
benefits
for
adults.
That's
incredibly
important,
obviously,
and
I
don't
know
that
we
talk
enough
about
the
importance
of
dental
health
and
the
impact
that
has
on
overall
health,
and
I
saw
in
here
for
page
four,
I
guess
on
the
slide.
It
says
more
than
600
000,
adult
tenncare
members
served
with
a
comprehensive
dental
health
benefit
for
the
first
time
in
program.
J
History
is
that
in
the
past
year,
or
is
that
moving
forward
and
and
what
led
to
that
made
that
or
made
that
possible.
H
J
J
Okay
and
so
what
what's
the
price
tag
on
serving
600
000
with
comprehensive
dental
benefits
you
had
put
in
here:
25
million
for
payments,
but
that
included
behavioral
health
as
well.
So
I
was.
H
Oh,
the
25
is
only
for
the
behavioral
health
and
the
dental,
the
the
I
mean
behavioral
health
and,
oh
I'm
sorry,
yes,
the
25,
if
you,
if
you
break
it
down
the
the
you're,
I'm
sorry
the
25
speaks
to
the
provider
rate
increase
right,
and
that
is
about
11
million
on
the
dental
provider
rate
increase
of
the
25.
okay,
but
to
cover
the
benefit.
H
J
H
Would
be
100
100
on
the
adult?
Dental
benefit
number
one
that'd
be
a
100
increase,
because
we
don't.
We
don't
cover
that,
except
for
a
very
small
limited
adult
population,
those
that
some
some
adults
have
disabilities.
H
Well,
I
you
know,
I
think,
we're
just
in
a
position
now
where
we
have.
We
have
the
revenue
available
to
to
make
these
kinds
of
investments,
and
you
know
I
don't
want
to
speak
to
for
commissioner
ely
or
or
the
governor,
but
you
know
we
put
forward
this
item.
We
think
it's
something
that
will
when
we
talk
about
our
mission
improving
lives.
H
J
Yeah,
thank
you,
mr
man.
Well
that
I
mean
that's
that's
my
point.
I
mean
I
fully
support
it
and
I'm
glad
we're
doing
it.
I
guess
I
was
just
kind
of
trying
to
figure
out
why
we
weren't
doing
it
before
I
mean
I
think
we
have
revenues
before
and
you
don't
need
to
answer
that
question,
but
I'm
excited
we're
doing
that
moving
forward.
J
I
think
it's
a
huge
opportunity
and
I'm
glad
we're
providing
that
because,
like
I
said
I
I
don't
think
we
talk
about
the
impact
of
dental
health
enough
and
if
we
can
provide
600
000
adults
with
dental
coverage,
I
mean
that
is
truly
significant.
So
thank
you
for
that
and
all
I
got,
mr
chairman,
thank
you.
I
H
We
have,
we
have
almost
4
000
that
are
on
the
wait
list
for
the
the
ecf
choices
program:
okay,
wow
yeah,.
I
I
have
a
friend
who
has
a
child:
that's
been
waiting
for
two
years,
he's
a
physician
in
johnson
city,
he's
a
pediatric
surgeon
and
these
children
weren't
wanted
by
their
parents
when
they
were
born
because
they
had
deformities,
and
so
he
brought
them
home.
Three
of
the
children
have
had
the
choices
program.
Two
of
the
children
have
had
the
choices
program.
One
has
not,
and
he
watches
every
day.
H
A
You,
okay,
any
further
questions
from
the
committee
seeing
none
thank
you
for
your
presentation
looks
like
there's
some
exciting
things
going
on
with
this.
I'm
I'm
going
to
circle
up
with
your
staff.
Here.
I've
got
a
few
questions.
I
need
to
ask
but
again
appreciate
you
guys
coming
and
thank
you
for
your
presentation.
A
All
right
without
objection
we'll
go
back
into
session,
any
further
business
from
the
committee.
Okay,
seeing
none.
We
are
adjourned.