April 30, 2006

Sick Politics

State Rep. Stacey Campfield has an excellent commentary on the gamble legislators are being asked to take with the governor's proposed "Cover Tennessee" healthcare plan.

The governor's Cover Tennessee plan is in jeopardy. Not because of Republicans, but because of bad planning and a rush to get a new health care plan on the market before election time rolls around. If the plan is not accepted, just as well, the blame can be shifted to republicans and that will get the governor out from under his "I promise to fix TennCare" rock.

Cover Tennessee has some good in it. ... Other parts seem slapped together similar to how we got into the TennCare mess in the first place. One bad part is no firm funding for the plan after the first few years (See pre K, The football stadium and most of the other plans the gov. has implemented previous to his moving on to higher office.) Nothing is as permanent or guaranteed to grow as quickly as a government program. No firm funding equates into a tax increase down the road.

The topper to me though has got to be how the governor wants legislators to sign off on a the key part of the plan that neither we nor he has even seen!! Yes... You heard me right. No one knows what we will get if we sign off and give the gov. the money to do the plan.