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Committee advances bill asking TennCare to consider health-reimbursement option for Katie Beckett Part A families
Summary
Lawmakers advanced House Bill 1158 to Finance, Ways and Means after a lengthy debate over whether TennCare can or should establish a health reimbursement account (HRA) for the most medically fragile children enrolled under Katie Beckett Part A; TennCare officials warned of equity and federal-approval constraints.
The House Insurance Committee voted 14–0 to advance House Bill 1158, which would ask TennCare to pursue authority so that families enrolled in Katie Beckett Part A could access a health-reimbursement account to help pay for home- and community-based services.
Sponsor Chair Liddy Lin (Chairwoman Liddy Lin) told the committee the measure responds to family concerns that Katie Beckett Part A enrollees — the most medically fragile children served by the state program — do not always receive the same ease of access to home- and community-based services available to some families in Part B. "These families feel that they are not getting all that they need," the sponsor said.
The nut graf: TennCare officials said the apparent shortfall is driven by program design, existing utilization patterns and federal rules; they warned that a Part A-only HRA could raise equity issues across Medicaid and might require a federal waiver or other CMS approval.
Drew Staniewski,…
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