Reply #14: TN Republican voters WANTED this

[Famine]

The people that voted for Bush in TN have been clamoring for an end to TENNCARE for years, even before he was President. About 1 in 5 Tennesseans are on TENNCARE (plus a load of folks from other states who signed up with bogus addresses). The program threatens to take every new dollar the state is bringing in and it was the major reason given for needing an income tax during the revolt a few years back.

People here equate TENNCARE with the income tax and the income tax is VERY unpopular. The Republicans just got control of the State Senate based on the income tax issue and closed the gap in the House. The Governor tried to implement less draconian measures like copays, limits on prescriptions, generics etc but was blocked by lawsuits from consumer advocates. TENNCARE is one heck of a medical plan and anyone who comes to TN and shows up at a hospital for treatment got signed up until they hit the ceiling.

Bredeson had no choice in what he did. He actually saved more of TENNCARE than most thought possible (for now).