In the aftermath of drastic reductions in TennCare, Tennessee's Medicaid-plus program, the state is once again expanding coverage beyond the Medicaid population. "Cover Tennessee" will provide basic coverage--a benefit package not as rich as Medicaid's--for those who cannot afford health insurance. There will be a free program (for children and pregnant women), low-premium coverage for those whose employers don't offer insurance and prescription coverage for low- income adults with no drug coverage. Some 185,000 are expected to enroll--about the same number that were cut from TennCare rolls.
A UNIVERSAL APPROACH
Vermont will edge close to universal health insurance coverage with its Catamount Health reform, which was signed into law in May. Not only will the program help an estimated 25,000 uninsured Vermonters gain coverage, it also will give chronic care a boost. With 75 to 80 percent of all health care spending going toward treating those with chronic illnesses, Vermont hopes to save $550 million over the next 10 years by providing incentives for better management of the chronically ill. While doctors will continue to be paid for seeing patients in their office, the initiative will also pay them for promoting and providing well-being assistance.
PRECISE PRESCRIPTIONS
Cursive penmanship is now illegal in the state of Washington--at least for Rx-writing physicians. A law that went into effect in June mandates that all prescriptions be hand-printed, typed or electronically generated or pharmacists are not allowed to fill them. The idea is to put a crimp in drug errors. A recent test of 6,000 handwritten prescriptions from around the state found well over a quarter of them were illegible.
