2008 Woodie Awards
TENNESSEE NEWS BRIEF
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Bredesen May End TennCare
Gov. Phil Bredesen has until the end of the year to decide whether or not to
end his TennCare program. Since its inception in 1994, TennCare has been met
with almost equal parts praise and scrutiny from both legislators and medical
workers. Originally designed to expand Medicaid by covering uninsured and
uninsurable people in a health insurance program, TennCare has simply become
too expensive to maintain. Bredesen mandated an overhaul earlier this year,
reducing the amount of benefits that enrollees have access to while still
maintaining the same number of patients. Although he would prefer to stay with
a reduced-benefit plan over Medicaid coverage, Bredesen may be forced to chuck
the program due to a federal funding cut of $120 million. If TennCare coverage
is ended, about 400,000 Tennesseans will be dropped from the state health
insurance program, including over 50,000 children.
McKenzie Man Pleads Not Guilty to Chemical Weapons Charge
On Oct. 25, Demetrius “Van” Crocker was arrested in Jackson and accused of
plotting to destroy government buildings with explosives and chemical weapons.
Crocker had planned to meet with an agent to exchange C-4 explosives and
ingredients for sarin gas, but was caught when the dealer revealed his status
as an undercover FBI agent. Crocker had told the investigator that he admired
Hitler and the Nazi ideology, and that “It would be a good thing if somebody
could detonate some sort of weapon of mass destruction in Washington while
both the U.S. Congress and Senate were in session.” Crocker is being held in
West Tennessee without bail and faces an undefined prison term with two
additional charges carrying sentences of up to 10 years. The charges combine
to over $750,000 in fines.