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Subcommittee approves bill requiring TennCare to publish disability-focused network adequacy data
Summary
House Bill 711 would require TennCare to collect and publish additional county-level data about provider network adequacy for services to TennCare members with disabilities, including utilization versus allocations, average appointment wait time, and time from approval to service start. The subcommittee advanced the amended bill 7-0.
House Bill 711, sponsored by Chairman Hale, was approved by the TennCare Subcommittee and will move to full Insurance after members attached Amendment 5319 and voted 7-0.
The bill does not change federally mandated time-and-distance standards for network adequacy; rather, it adds three supplemental reporting data points intended to identify access gaps for TennCare members with disabilities. Chairman Hale told members the requested data would be published on a county-by-county basis, broken down by service type and waiver program. The three additional metrics are: (1) the average percent service utilization (how much of a service TennCare members receive versus the amount allocated in their person-centered plan); (2) average appointment wait time; and (3) average time between approval for a service and the start of that service.
Hale said the data would allow TennCare and the state to target investments and corrective action more precisely. Committee members discussed implementation costs and were told the fiscal note reflects the cost of new reporting systems; staff indicated the expense would be for IT and reporting changes. Members unanimously voted to send the bill to full Insurance.
Ending: The subcommittee emphasized that the bill is a reporting and transparency tool designed to identify where access problems exist so that TennCare and policymakers can design targeted solutions.
