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Dear Governor Haslam

Larry Drain, Legislative Liaison on State Legislative Affairs, is writing a letter each day to Governor Haslam urging him to accept Medicaid Expansion for Tennessee. Thousands of our fellow consumers are needlessly suffering as a direct result of the Governor's rejection of Medicaid Expansion as offered in the ACA. These consumer's mental health will continue to deteriorate until mental health care is provided and the mental health care system in Tennessee is improved and expanded. This blog is established to give a platform for the presentation of Larry's letters.

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Dear Governor Haslam: Seventeenth Letter

6/19/2014

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The 17th letter: What is wrong with saving money? Don't we need it?

Dear Governor Haslam:

This is my 17th letter.

I am confused. If the federal government is going to foot the bill for medicaid does that not mean the money we would have used for medicaid could be saved or spent on some other need?? What is wrong with saving money?? Dont we need it??

Why do we never hear anybody talk about the opportunity federal money gives Tennessee? Why??

Governor Haslam why havent these considerations been a more important part of the discussion??

Tennessee needs opportunity. Please expand medicaid. The first voice must be yours.

Until tomorrow.

Yours truly,

Larry Drain

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Dear Governor Haslam: Sixteenth Letter, $400 Million

6/19/2014

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$400 million
Dear Governor Haslam:

This is my second 16th letter.

I got terrible news today. I heard that Tennessee is getting ready to pass the $400 million number in lost federal aid. $400 million. Can you even begin to imagine what that would have met to this state??

You can stop it. Speak out for Tenn Care expansion.

If you dont the numbers on lost money will only go up.

http://www.medicaidcounter.org/

Above is the link to let you know how much we have lost. Wouldnt it be great if none of us ever needed it again?

Until tomorrow.

Yours truly,

Larry Drain

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Dear Governor Haslam: Sixteenth Letter

6/19/2014

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The 16th letter: Submit a plan

Dear Governor Haslam:

This is my 16th letter to you.

Someone told me that officially there was no Tennessee Plan because you have never submitted a medicaid waiver. They havent approved anything because you havent given them anything to approve.

Submit a plan. At least make yes a possibility. Give yes a chance. Please.

I dont think they will have a different process for Tennessee than they do anyone else. Its like trying to play ball without taking the field.

Governor. Please give yes a chance. Submit the plan. We all deserve to see it.

Thanks in advance.

Until tomorrow.

Yours truly,

Larry Drain

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Dear Governor Haslam: Letter Fifteenth, to YOU

6/19/2014

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The 15th letter: On you

Dear Governor Haslam:

This is my 15th letter to you.

We have never met but I have a friend who knows you. I consider her a very perceptive person. She says that you really want to do the right thing but just dont believe it is even safe to try. She says you are waiting for the elections to get over and you might do something then.

Governor Haslam you underestimate Tennesseans. The legislature is less than the people it represents. We want to see your courage, your compassion and your commitment.

Stand and you will find quickly you are not standing alone. Please expand TennCare. We need you.

Until tomorrow.

Yours truly,

Larry Drain

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Dear Governor Haslam: Fifteenth Letter

6/19/2014

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A second 15th letter: I dont know if he lived

Dear Governor Haslam:

This is my second 15th letter to you. I know Tuesday you are planning to unveil your program to combat drug abuse in Tennessee and that is what made me think about it.

A couple of years ago I got a phone call at the hospital I worked at then. A young man talked about his addiction to prescription drugs. 3 friends had died from overdoses. He had come close. He wanted to go to a detox unit… He was afraid he was going to die.

He didnt have any insurance. I told him the waiting period for a bed could be 6-8 monthes with no insurance. He was quiet for a moment. Then he started to cry. He told me he wanted to live and didnt know how to make it now.

Abruptly he hung up. He wouldnt answer my calls back.

I dont know if he lived or not. I dont know.

There is no drug abuse treatment without access to services. Please expand TennCare. We all deserve a break. It is one of the most important things you could do to fight drug abuse in Tennessee.

Please.

Until tomorrow.

Yours truly,

Larry Drain

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Now we have a Facebook page

6/9/2014

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We now have a facebook page

by hopeworkscommunity

Check out and feel free to participate: http//www.facebook.com/deargovernorhaslam

hopeworkscommunity | May 27, 2014 at 8:28 pm | Categories: Uncategorized | URL:http://wp.me/p4E9xY-1E

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Dear Governor Haslam: Fourteenth Letter

6/1/2014

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The 14th letter: How many will die? How many have to die??Dear Governor Haslam,

This is my 14th letter to you.

It asks only two questions: without TennCare expansion how many will die? And most importantly how many have to die?

The link below is to a study from Harvard that addresses the first of those questions.

Governor in the next year somewhere between 261 and 981 Tennesseans will die from lack of medical coverage. 261-981 people who will find that the government of the state of Tennessee is more dangerous than cancer, heart disease, diabetes, car wrecks or bullets.

The most important queston is the second one. How many have to die???

NONE

Governor its on you. Please expand TennCare. There are at least 981 reasons too. Please.

You have the voice. You have the choice. Please.

Until tomorrow.

Yours truly,

Larry Drain

Health Affairs Mobile
http://m.healthaffairs.org/blog/2014/01/30/opting-out-of-medicaid-expansion-the-health-and-financial-impacts/
【from Next Browser】

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Dear Governor Haslam: A Second Thirteenth Letter

6/1/2014

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A second 13th letter: 32,000 people
Dear Governor Haslam:

This is my second 13th letter.

32,000 people. That is the number of seriously mentally ill people that without Tenn Care expansion will not have any access to services.

If they do not have help with their lives the consequences of their living will impact all of us. They already do. They fill our jails, our streets, our communities.

A total of 80,000 people with some degree of mental health issues will remain uninsured barring expansion. It is the right thing to do financially, socially, and morally. It is the right thing for Tennessee.

Please speak out. Expand Tenn Care.

Until tomorrow,

Larry Drain

Posted on May 30, 2014

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Dear Governor Haslam: Thirteenth Letter

6/1/2014

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The 13th letter: mental health
by hopeworkscommunityDear Governor Haslam:

This is my 13th letter to you.

I have always been impressed by the way you seem to care about the mental health system in Tennessee. But.....

The single most important piece of mental health reform is increasing people's access to services. Without health care reform there is no mental health reform and without TennCare expansion there is no access for many people. It has a tremendous cost to this state in terms of the consequences of people with mental health issues not receiving the help they need. Jails, prisons, homelessness, suicide, loss of jobs, family stresses and failures: all of these and more are connected to no access.

Make a real difference in our mental health system. Support TennCare expansion.

Until tomorrow.

Yours truly,

Larry Drain

hopeworkscommunity | May 30, 2014 at 12:14 am

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Governor Haslam, will you speak?

6/1/2014

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Will you speak???

The opposition to Medicaid expansion is loud, organized, powerful, aggresssive and persistent. Many people believe that the fight is over with in Tennessee. They point to the opposition in the legislature and wonder how they can make a difference. Expansion seems like such a no brainer in so many ways. I cant remember when the state of Tennessee had a chance to do something with the ability to help so many people so much. Yet it seems so far away.

It will take people who believe in it speaking up, speaking a lot, and speaking a lot more. Silence will only confirm what is. If what you say matters, saying nothing matters even more. Will you speak up??

There is no assurance it will make a difference. There is no promise you will be heard. The only promise is what will happen if you dont.

We need each other. Badly. Speak out. Write. Call. Email. Do something and then support someone else in doing the same. Vote each and every day the matters of your heart.

If are voice is to matter then what we do must matter.

Speak today for Medicaid expansion. Speak tomorrow and the day afterward. And continue speaking until you are heard and make a difference. If you dont speak for the people in need now who will speak for you in need.

Tomorrow will be my 13th letter to Governor Haslam. The day after that will be the 14th. Please join me. Contact Governor Haslam today.

Posted on May 29, 2014

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Author

Larry Drain, Legislative Liaison on State Legislative Affairs
NOTE: Join me by clicking on the button to write your own letter to Governor Haslam