Category: Tennessee Health Care Campaign

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.

Post your personal letter
DBSA Tennessee FB Page

Dear Governor Haslam: Seventeenth Letter

6/19/2014

6 Comments

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

6 Comments

Dear Governor Haslam: Sixteenth Letter, $400 Million

6/19/2014

0 Comments

$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

0 Comments

Dear Governor Haslam: Sixteenth Letter

6/19/2014

0 Comments

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

0 Comments

Dear Governor Haslam: Fourteenth Letter

6/1/2014

0 Comments

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】

0 Comments

Dear Governor Haslam: A Second Thirteenth Letter

6/1/2014

0 Comments

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

0 Comments

Dear Governor Haslam: Thirteenth Letter

6/1/2014

0 Comments

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

0 Comments

Governor Haslam, will you speak?

6/1/2014

0 Comments

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

0 Comments

Dear Governor Haslam: Twelfth Letter

6/1/2014

0 Comments

The 12th letter: disability

Dear Governor Haslam:

This is my 12th letter to you and the news is not good.

I talked with Carol Westlake of The Tennessee Coalition about the effect of Tenn Care expansion on people with disabilities. It is scary:

The percentage of people with disabilities is almost double for poor people what it is for people with higher incomes.

Although many people with disabilities get SSI and thus Tenn Care a very high amount dont.

There are 80742 Tennesseans with disabilities with no healthcare coverage. They are the people Tenn Care expansion could save. Can you even begin to imagine what disability without help must be like. Even applying for SSI can take over 2 years. This is not my picture of what Tennessee can be or should be. I dont think it is yours either Governor. Has anyone in your administration even looked at what the lack of expansion for people with disabilities??

There is another problem. If you were disabled, say in a car wreck or by illness, tomorrow and found you had lost all income you would probably apply for SSDI. Federal law says that for someone under 65 they must have ssdi for 2 years before they can access medicare. For many they have 2 years of no access to medical care when they need it more than they have ever needed in their lives. About 4-5% of these folks die before they get to medicaire. Expanding Tenn Care saves lives. It saves lives.

Governor Haslam none of this is okay. Tenn Care expansion for them is the difference in having a fair chance at any quality of life. Please act.

In the immediate sense I would like to know more about who in your administration is reaching out to the disabled community. If no one is they need to start– yesterday.

Governor thanks for your time.

Until tomorrow.

Yours truly,

Larry Drain

Posted on May 29, 2014

0 Comments

Dear Governor Haslam: Eleventh Letter

6/1/2014

0 Comments

The 11th letter: Expansion is working

Dear Governor Haslam:

This is my 11th letter to you.

It works. Expansion works. The evidence below talks about the hospitals all over the country it is making a difference in. Please read it and think about it.

It is good for the people. It is good for business. It is good for the state. It would be good for Tennessee.

Please act.

Until tomorrow.

Yours truly,

Larry Drain

http://www.kaiserhealthnews.org/Stories/2014/May/27/Safety-Net-Hospitals-Seeing-More-Patients-And-Money.aspx?utm_campaign=KHN%3A+First+Edition&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=12889701&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-8MLuuHds-MWsfBBw_qficPdbv3bbjcQ09WeIRWGNjvc2i4Iblp4izuGIJLmvDOfbfpzaQFWtuoRGwQn8X-kl5ecBnmKA&_hsmi=12889701

Posted on May 28, 2014

0 Comments

Dear Governor Haslam: A Second Tenth Letter

6/1/2014

0 Comments

A second tenth letter: more to sayDear Governor Haslam:

Please forgive me, but this is the second tenth letter. Reading back over the last letter there was something more I wanted to say. And it seemed an important way to end the first ten letters.

There is a big gap in Tennessee between those who believe their voice counts and those who believe they have no voice. If you are poor the overwhelming message right now is that your voice is not important. There are people whose life is in danger right from lack of medical care now who believe it is pointless to speak and if they do it should always be with apology. As Governor that should alarm and scare you. The overwhelming message they get is that they are disposable and their lives an inconvenience.

People who are poor, who have no insurance, who are sick or have family sick no longer believe anyone listens and that even their screams and cries are as a whisper.

It is accepted as common wisdom in this state that it is pointless to talk about TennCare expansion. Any reporter, any political figure will tell you it isnt going anywhere.

If people lose faith in the government do we not in the end lose faith in each other and eventually in ourselves?? As Governor my prayer is that you find a way to reach out to people who are convinced that you dont care and tell them you do. We really need that right now.

I really struggled with the decision to even start writing these letters. There was a part of me that said “what’s the point? Really what is the point??”

I came to believe that this was about much more than rather or not in the end you agree with me. In some sense it was about soul, about voice, about encouraging others and especially encouraging me not to give up on the fundamental decency of my neighbors.

Governor Haslam we could use some help here. Sometimes it feels like there is no one at the other end of the line.

Please expand TennCare. You can start by resuming the conversation. We are counting on you and really need your voice.

Until tomorrow.

Yours truly,

Larry Drain

0 Comments

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

Dear Governor Haslam

Dear Governor Haslam: Seventeenth Letter

Dear Governor Haslam: Sixteenth Letter, $400 Million

Dear Governor Haslam: Sixteenth Letter

Dear Governor Haslam: Fourteenth Letter

Dear Governor Haslam: A Second Thirteenth Letter

Dear Governor Haslam: Thirteenth Letter

Governor Haslam, will you speak?

Dear Governor Haslam: Twelfth Letter

Dear Governor Haslam: Eleventh Letter

Dear Governor Haslam: A Second Tenth Letter

Author

Archives

Categories