Ditto
Couldn't have said it better myself, Glen.
Bredesen Has Killed No One
Bredesen Has Killed No One
Glen takes direct issue with the postings of Sharon Cobb. A reader of Bring the Noise pointed out to me a glaring error in one Cobb posting. Cobb claims that a woman died because she was disenrolled from TennCare due to Governor Bredesen's reform program; however, the post quotes the woman's husband as saying that she lost her TennCare coverage in March or April of this year.
The problem? The disenrollment process did not begin until July. Remember that the state budget did not take effect until July 1 (the beginning of Tennessee's fiscal year). If this woman lost her eligibility in March or April, she lost it for a reason other than TennCare reform.
But we all know that the Tenncareigentsia doesn't concern itself with sticky little issues like accuracy.
One other note on this subject: everyone disenrolled from TennCare is a non-Medicaid eligible adult. Period. Think about it.
posted by HitMan | 11:36 AM
7 Comments:
I cannot find anyplace where I said a woman lost her TennCare in March or April. Please tell me where that is written or said.
The best thing to come out of Glen's rant is he changed my mind. I was going to leave one of the funerals I've attended out of the new edit of my documentary, but thanks to his rant, I am editing it in, along with an interview with the widow and mother of three who lost her husband because they couldn't get his medicines. So thank Glen for that.
I don't care what you or Glen or any person thinks who would be so immoral that you believe an innocent human life is open for negotiation. Everything else is open for negotiation, but not pulling the plug on the many who will die, and several who have died already. And until my dying breath, I will fight (NON violently) with every breath I have to stop these draconian cuts. Bredesen lied, and now many will die. He personally looked me in the eyes and promised me he wouldn't make cuts like this in 2002. A man is only as good as his word. He is ultimately to blame for the mismangement of TennCare. THere is no question it was mismanaged. Maybe I should also edit in all the times he pointed to his management skills as the person to be at the helm of TennCare. The abuses and mismanagement happened on his dime and so he sentences innocent people to death because he couldn't manage it...he couldn't do what he said he would do.
Anyhow, by all means, please tell me where I said someone was cut in March or April. As you know, it's possbible someone was cut in March or April because he or she no longer qualified, but I am not aware of any mistakes. Inform me of any and I'll certainly correct them.
Happy Thanksgiving. I'm thankful that I didn't lose my TennCare because I wouldn't have been able to afford the test that can detect early ovarian cancer, (usually very deadly) then have surgery (which will take me about a year to complettely recovery from) and I would have been dead in less than a year if I hadn't caught it. That's a fact. I would have been on Bredesen's death list.
Again, please let me know where you think I made an error on a date. I cannot find it. In my documentary all the dates are correct.
Happy Thanksgiving. I am most thankful that I was left on TennCare and didn't have to die because I am uninsurable.
Sharon Cobb
PS...Third time tonight/this morning I am apologizing for so many typos. Sorry. Exhausted and not typing well.
S
Sharon,
Don't worry about the typos. Happens to the best of us.
My original post includes a link (click on your name) to your post about the woman in question. You claim she was disenrolled as part of TennCare reform, but her husband says that she lost her coverage in "April or March."
Overall, your arguments are fatuous, inaccurate, and irresponsible. You've shown me no real grasp of complex issues. You misrepresent some facts and misinterpret others. Your logic is infantile. And your primary motivation seems to be self-aggrandizement (a common malady in the blogosphere). This goes for your "documentary," which I have watched.
Just a few points that I'll address here:
The problems with TennCare have been going on since at least 1998. It's ridiculous to assert that they all started when Governor Bredesen took office.
But think about this: what's the one constant factor in TennCare? Who is the one person that has been involved in TennCare since the beginning? Who has been there throughout the entire mess?
That's right: Gordon Bonnyman. What responsibilty does he bear for the mess that was TennCare? You haven't asked that question, have you?
As I pointed out, everyone that has been disenrolled is a non-Medicaid-eligible adult. That means that these people are not covered by the Medicaid programs in other states. Are people dying in the streets in these other states? No. If someone dies in one of these other states, do you blame their death on that state's governor?
TennCare was an experiment in socialized health insurance. No other state chose to emulate TennCare. Why? Because the program was unsustainable. What good is a program that isn't sustainable?
As for the people that have been disenrolled, there are options available. Express Scripts announced recently that it has filled over 600,000 prescriptions for Tennesseans since July. In Nashville, Bridges to Care says that its enrollment has doubled in that time. Again, other states use various methods to address health care for low-income folks.
I don't know the actual number of disenrollees. For simplicity's sake, let's just say 100,000 people were disenrolled. You have a handful of cases in which you claim that people have lost TennCare coverage, have been unable to get medical care, and have died. Let's say you have ten cases.
What about the 99,990 disenrollees that haven't died? Apparently, they are getting the medical assistance that they need.
Is it logical to claim that the system is inadequate when it is apparently working for the overwhelming majority of these people?
Of course it isn't.
The reasonable person in this situation asks what the ten have not done or have done incorrectly that the 99,990 have done or have done correctly.
But you ignore all of this and continue flailing away about disenrollment. Disenrollment is over. The federal courts and the federal government (the Justice Department and CMS) approved the process. From what I've seen, the process is basically complete. Governor Bredesen has said that he's moving into the next phase of reforming health care in Tennessee.
Which brings me to my final point, the Governor clearly and consistently said through the 2002 campaign that he would fix TennCare or end it. He stood before the General Assembly in 2004, while presenting his reform plan, and said that plan was TennCare's last chance. The state legislature approved that plan, and the TennCareigentsia killed it.
The Governor has also consistently said that disenrollment is only a step in the process of reform - not the end. He's working on finding a method that is sustainable and that offers help for the disenrolled and for the Tennesseans that never had health insurance.
The most productive thing that you and the other advocates could do is to help get information out to disenrollees about safety net programs. You should also start looking forward and quit wallowing in the past.
Instead, it looks like you just want to heap ashes on your head and moan.
Okay, Sharon, I have an error to apologize for. (See, it happens to everyone.)
In my original post, click on the words "Cobb posting" not on your name. The link will take you to your post that we've been discussing.
Hitman,
You certainly seem to be a dust buster for Phil. That aside, I am not wrong in my documentary. I provided documents from Phil's office to back up what I was saying.
But here's the bottom line. A human life is not negotiable. All of us understand TennCare was mismanaged. Let's put aside who is blaming whom at the moment and look at one basic, fundamental FACT. You are agreeing with Glen that no one has died as a result of these cuts. That's simply not true. I understand other people believe the government shouldn't provide healthcare, and that's fine. (though I don't agree with it) The problem I have is the fact these people were on TennCare, and their lifelines were pulled. Unlike Shiavo, they could speak for themselves and they were all saying, "Don't pull the plug."
I could bend, twist into a pretzel to work with the Governor on this if he would manage this well enough to see no one died from being cut. I have a woman in Jackson TN who had a heart transplant which TennCare paid for, but now she can't get the drugs that keep her from rejecting it. Aside from the obvious moral and spiritual issue, that's bad management.
You are wrong on this issue. Glen is wrong on this issue. He never should have linked me as the person who is lying...and his story was about people saying these cuts are responsible for some dying is BS. He publicly called me a liar.
Regarding your Safety Nets, they wouldn't pay for the expensive blood test for those at high risk for ovarian cancer. Had I lost my TennCare, I would not have been able to afford the test and not had surgery and would have-most likely--been dead in a year. Look, I wasn't on my death bed when I started the documentary. I did it for NO money because I believed it the right thing to do. It's somewhat ironic that I was/am trying to help all these people, then got hit in August with an elevated CA125 (the test for early detection of Ovarian cancer) and ended up as one of the people who would have died without TennCare. People have died because of these cuts for no other reason than they couldn't get the medicines and other procedures due to the cuts. I swear to you on my life, people have died as a direct result of these cuts.
I wish Bredesen would have gone to the table and said he had to make cuts, but would have professionals evaluate who would die as a result of these cuts and who was abusing TennCare. He could have done that. He could have released the info to the professionals who evaluated the Safety net, but they never received the proper information. Again, I am not arguing about the need for reform. I am saying it could have been done where no one died, and knowingly making a decision that will cause innocent people to die is completely unacceptable and unethical and immoral.
I've said this before, and I'll say it again. Bredesen broke my heart. I was a huge supporter of his. But he looked me in the eyes in 02 and promised he would not do what he is doing now.
A man is only as good as his word...which makes him pretty worthless right now.
I get no pleasure out of going up against him. I adored him...believed in him. But he is not a man of his word and he is ultimately responsible for the death of innocent people because of his draconian cuts. And I will continue to expose other documents and add them to other versions of the documentary until he at least agrees to add back people who will die. I hope these cuts do get rid of the Rush Limbaughs...people who abuse prescription drugs. But the dying? Not acceptable. Ever.
Best,
Sharon
PS...Thanks for not being an asshole to me. I doubt I'll change your mind...I pray I can, but if I don't, just stay civilized and realize I AM telling the truth, we just have different opinions. I still think you're doing this blog as a favor/friend/associate of Phil's though. (Not that there's anything wrong with that)
Sharon,
I hope you'll correct the error in your original post.
You should tell your friend that had the heart transplant to contact the safety net. (Their number is on the TennCare web site.) There is a program for transplant patients.
This proves my point: there is help out there for these people, but the TennCareigentsia doesn't care. They just want to keep pitching a fit.
Whatever. The rest of Tennessee will just keep moving forward.
The last comment was me. I hit the wrong button.
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