Researchers Publish Health Affairs Blog


October 4, 2019

Sara Rosenbaum, JD, Harold and Jane Hirsh Professor of Health Law and Policy, and Alexander Somodevilla, JD, Senior Research Associate at Milken Institute School of Public Health, published an article Oct. 4 in Health Affairs titled "Looking Inside Tennessee’s Block Grant Proposal."

In the blog, Rosenbaum and Somodevilla write:

On September 17, 2019, the state of Tennessee released for public comment a draft proposal to the Trump administration to add a new experimental phase to its Medicaid program, TennCare, which has operated under Section 1115 waiver status since 1994. This new phase is intended to test the effects of aggregate federal Medicaid spending limits (commonly referred to as a block grant) on more than one million Medicaid beneficiaries.

The blog explains the reasons why the administration's decision to test aggregate spending caps in Tennessee is a curious one. 

Read the full blog here.