Memorial Service for TennCare Enrollee

A memorial service for a TennCare enrollee was held at the Hobson United Methodist Church in East Nashville last night.

James Bryant, a former asphalt plant foreman, passed away August 28th. He was 50 years old. His widow, Barbara Bryant, was in Memphis and Nashville yesterday criticizing the Governor for the five drug prescription drug limit that she says killed her husband.

“I don’t want anyone else to die from this. I want it stopped. Reinsert everybody. And then investigate one by one and cut off if you have to. But quit letting people die because they can’t get medicines.”

Bryant says her husband, who suffered from diabetes and a rare blood-clotting disorder, was fine when he had his medications, but she says he needed 12. Bryant says her family couldn’t afford the other medications. She’s a nurse, but works for a company that doesn’t provide health insurance.

Governor Phil Bredesen said yesterday that the state would like enrollees to be able to have more medications if they need them, but says TennCare will have to wait and see if the changes made to the Grier Consent Decree generate enough savings.

“It is my desire to do soft limits on scripts. We were hoping we’d get enough out of the court case where we got most of what we wanted in July to do it. I think none of us felt that we got quite everything we needed to go forward right now with the soft limits.”

Bredesen says if everything is on budget, the state will look at implementing a ‘soft’ limit in the spring, meaning enrollees will be allowed to have more drugs if the medication is deemed medically necessary.