Terry Roland must be using Common Core Math

Here we go again.  Governor Haslam’s Insure TN has been resurrected. Don’t blame me for the resurrection imagery; it is what Terry Roland himself used in his editorial in the Commercial Appeal on Palm Sunday.  It is touted as the conservative health insurance plan.

Tennesseans have been told that 1) it’s not ObamaCare even though it is funded through ObamaCare; 2) it’s not expanding Medicaid although it is funded with federal Medicaid dollars; 3) it is not going to cost TN taxpayers anything because it is all funded through federal crack money.  Last I checked, Tennesseans pay federal income tax too.   I don’t see anything conservative about expanding a government program that we can't afford either at the state or federal level.

Insure TN is a bailout for the hospitals.  When the federal crack money runs outs, the Tennessee hospitals will fund the rest of it.  Out of the goodness of their hearts, right?  Well, not exactly.  Because of ObamaCare, hospitals are getting less money so they have come up with a scheme to unlock federal money to save them.  I get it.  ObamaCare is a disaster.  Hospitals and doctors are getting shafted because government healthcare doesn’t work.  Tennesseans are getting shafted with losing their insurance which they were promised they could keep and for those of us who still have insurance, we are paying much more for less coverage.

This is where Terry Roland’s Common Core Math comes in.  As usual, politicians create a crisis in order to talk taxpayers into going along with their schemes.  What are the two top crises that we hear when politicians are trying to sell a tax increase to pay for their pet projects?  Police/Fire and Schools.  Well, now you can add the hospitals to the list.  Let me be clear.  I am not against hospitals.  I am not against doctors.  I think they are getting the shaft just like the rest of us Americans with ObamaCare.  The question is, is what do we do about it?  Terry Roland is selling Insure TN in Memphis as the only way to keep property taxes in Shelby County from going up.  He said on his FaceBook page on Sunday that

"if they stop the dish payments that comes to Memphis from the Fed, it will be devastating because Regional one will lose 77 million dollars a year and the only way to pay for it would be to go up on property taxes and I can't let that happen. Another property Tax increase would kill Shelby County”  

According to Dr. Reginald Coopwood, CEO of Regional One in March 2014.

“(Tennessee's "disproportionate share" (DSH) federal payments for hospitals that serve a large number of Medicaid and low-income uninsured patients are still up in the air. The Regional Medical Center has received about $12 million a year.)”

Notice the discrepancy?  Roland says the Med will lose $77 million a year and Dr. Coopwood says $12 million.  That is not just a couple of dollars off.

Tell us the truth Terry Roland.  The hospitals are desperate for a bailout. Using The Med is much more effective as an emotional tug than bailing out Baptist and Methodist.  My question is, “Who is going to bailout the taxpayers?”

Terry Roland posted this quote by Clint Eastwood on his FaceBook page in February.  I agree with Eastwood.  What about Insure TN is less government and fiscally responsible?