In January, Tennessee’s Governor Phil Bredesen announced he would cut 300,000 people from the state’s health care program for the poor and uninsured in an effort to balance the budget. Out I-Team investigation found the state had failed to properly manage the program; for example, enrollees openly sold their medicine, and pharmacy oversights that were common in other states had never been implemented. We revealed confidential state documents that showed political motives for the timing of the cuts. We revealed that the administration withheld crucial information on how sick the people were who were being cut. The administration promised a “Safety Net” of services for those cut off, but we found many Tennesseans with serious illnesses such as Parkinson’s disease were unable to access any health care services.
