Rural Tennessee County Afraid of Bredesen's TennCare Cuts

It's difficult enough for a Democrat to win Tennessee's rural counties, without the baggage that Bredesen is going be carrying come election year 2006. He may have the advantage of incumbency and his millions, but hundreds of thousands of families are going to suffer horribly because of his failure to keep his campaign promise to fix TennCare.

Instead of 'fixing' TennCare, the myopic Governor axed health care for hundreds of thousands of the elderly/disabled/needy and mentally ill.

Folks in Fentress County are very worried and they are not alone.

From ABC News:

As many as 2,876 Fentress County adults, including Shields, are among tens of thousands statewide set to be dropped from TennCare this summer, pending a last-minute funding bailout and court appeals.

"If the cuts go through like they are being proposed, it's pretty much like the governor is saying, `Which disease do you want to die from?'" said Shields, who faces drug bills far exceeding the $1,600 he receives in Social Security each month to support himself, his wife and two children.