Commentator Pat Nolan at Channel 5, has an interesting report on Governor Bredesen's health care axe ,which includes the views of Nashville Mayor, Bill Purcell:
"I was reminded by Nashville Mayor Bill Purcell the other day that those about to lose their TennCare health care coverage (now estimated to be somewhere between just under 300,000 to just under 200,000 folks depending on pending court rulings) represent the largest such group to be cut off at one time from health services in the history of this country (emphasis added).
That's more than little frightening considering our safety net is still being rebuilt. Mayor Purcell estimates it will cost Nashville at least an extra $5 million dollars more to handle those who now have no where to go except to the city's General Hospital and other public clinics. You can multiply that by every other big city and small county in the state.
So as the court hearings drone on and protestors keep their vigil at the Governor's office, remember these cuts are now real with over 2,000 people a week being cut off and that number is expected to grow rapidly now that the deadline to appeal has passed. Heck, over 60,000 people didn't eve respond to the state's letter asking them if they want to appeal being cut off. So they are cut off automatically and are out on the street right now without health coverage.
It will indeed be a long hot summer in Tennessee. I still think reasonable men and women, who wanted to find some common ground in how to spend over $6 billion dollars for health care could come to some agreement that would have prevented most if not all of this. But we haven't done that and now we are going see who really pays the price. "
