Phil Bredesen on Health Care Democratic TN Governor

Cover Tennessee: provide affordable, portable insurance

• Providing affordable, portable health insurance to working Tennesseans: In 2006, I announced a new initiative known as Cover Tennessee. At its heart is a partnership between the state and small business to help adults buy affordable insurance that follows them, no matter where they work, and that doesn’t require high deductibles on the front end.
• Insuring children and the uninsurable.
• Improving the health of all Tennesseans, especially young adults.

Reform TennCare with more regulation of MCOs

Bredesen believes TennCare is a fundamentally sound program that is off track. He has identified three areas where reform will make a dramatic impact:
1. Tighten Up Eligibility - improve the verification process & deter fraud;
2. Reform Benefits Package - tailor benefits based on funding levels;
3. Toughen Regulation - bring in experienced regulators who know how to make sure managed care organizations (MCOs) are doing things right.

3.2% funding increase for National Institutes of Health.

NIH, as well as the indirect job benefits of laboratories needing space, supplies, services, and equipment. We are also deeply aware that NIH-funded discoveries are the basis of new companies and even new industries in our communities.

NIH research is an instrumental part of the success of the US life sciences industry and its 6 million high-wage US jobs. Moreover, follow-on life science research advances are now stimulating new jobs and new solutions in green energy, agriculture, the environment and industrial manufacturing. NIH funding enables the scientific talent and discoveries that are at the heart of this vast array of economic activity.

As you develop the Congressional Budget Resolution, we urge you to enable the 3.2% funding increase for NIH contained in the President's budget request. We thank you for your past support for biomedical research and ask you to craft a budget resolution that accommodates the President's $32.2 billion FY 2011 NIH budget request.

The greatest contribution NIH makes is to the health and well-being of Americans. Past federal investments in medical research, combined with those from the private sector, have led to improved health, better quality of life, and improved productivity of millions of patients and their families.

But NIH is also an important national, regional, and local economic engine. Together, our states received more than $19 billion from the NIH last year for promising research efforts. NIH funding directly supports 350,000 jobs across the US. In our states, we see firsthand the world class research institutions and scientific teams enabled by