FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
FRIDAY, AUGUST 25, 2006
CONTACT: ANDREA WHITE
615.253.5641
OR 615.512.7007
DIRECTOR AND BOARD NAMED FOR ACCESSTN
BREDESEN'S HEALTH PLAN FOR UNINSURABLES WILL HAVE
FIRST BOARD MEETING AUGUST 29, 2006
“David Hilley is uniquely qualified to lead AccessTN,” said F & A Commissioner Dave Goetz. “He has impressive experience running a health plan in Texas, and he knows the Tennessee experience from his tenure at TennCare. We are lucky to get him for this initiative.”
AccessTN is a high-risk pool specifically designed to meet the higher utilization needs of Tennesseans who are seriously ill and have been deemed uninsurable. Thirty-three other states operate similar high-risk pools. AccessTN is one program under the larger Cover Tennessee umbrella which also encompasses insurance options CoverTN and CoverKids, prescription assistance under CoverRx, and healthy lifestyle initiatives under ProjectDiabetes and Coordinated School Health.
This week, the Commissioner has also announced the Board of Directors for AccessTN. According to statute the Board includes 3 representatives of the Administration, 2 nominees from the Speakers of the General Assembly, representatives of the Tennessee Hospital Association, the Tennessee Medical Association, a self-insured employer with more than 500 employees, a commercially insured employer of less than 500 employees, a producer in the health insurance business, representatives from a hospital and medical service corporation and from an insurer other than a hospital and medical service corporation, and a member of the general public.
The Board is tasked with presenting an operational plan and a funding plan to the Commissioner of the Department of Finance & Administration and to the Comptroller of the Treasury on an annual basis to assure fair, reasonable and efficient administration of the pool and its ongoing financial solvency. These plans shall become effective upon approval by both the Commissioner and the Comptroller.
An organizational meeting of the Board has been scheduled for August 29, 2006, in the Executive Conference Room of the State Capitol, at 1:30 pm.
Board members include:
Dave Goetz, Commissioner, Department of Finance & Administration, Board Chair
Kenneth Robinson, Commissioner, Department of Health
Virginia Trotter Betts, Commissioner, Department of Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities
Rep. Gary Odom, D-Nashville, Nashville, TN
Tim Scarvey, HCA, Brentwood, TN
Tracy Bradford, Synaxis, Polk and Sullivan, Memphis, TN
William Phillips, Bridgestone/Firestone, Nashville, TN
Sylvia Walker, State Farm Insurance, Memphis, TN
Lou Cook, Dyersburg, TN
Tara Sturdivant, State Department of Health, Knoxville, TN
In accordance with statute, the representatives from a hospital and medical service corporation and from an insurer other than a hospital and medical service corporation will be named after the initial contract has been awarded to a plan administrator. A member from the Senate has not yet been named.
###