State to cut fee for requested TennCare data

By MICHAEL CASS

The Tennessean
02/24/05

Gov. Phil Bredesen's office said yesterday that the state would significantly reduce the charge for TennCare-related records requested by a state legislator and The Tennessean.

A Bredesen spokeswoman said the charge to produce the documents, previously estimated by state officials at $70,000 to $75,000, would now be $7,500 at most.

The announcement came a day after state Sen. Jerry Cooper, who is chairman of a committee that must approve TennCare's budget, said he was willing to ''play chicken'' with Bredesen's administration over the unusual request that legislators pay for information.

''The governor says he knows that, under the law, the state can charge the actual amount (needed to produce the records),'' Lydia Lenker, the governor's press secretary, said in a late-afternoon statement. ''But he feels it's too high. He's asked the TennCare Bureau to cut that amount significantly, and they'll charge no more than $7,500, which is the man-hour charge, based on current estimates.''

Cooper, D-Morrison, could not be reached for comment last night.

Alan Johnson, an attorney for The Tennessean, said that if TennCare produces the information for the legislature, it then would exist as a public record, and the newspaper shouldn't have to pay $7,500 for a copy.

''But I do think the amount they're talking about is much more in line with what would be a reasonable cost for the kind of information that's being sought … certainly more reasonable than $75,000,'' Johnson added. ''But I'd like to know more about what goes into that estimate before I can say whether it is a reasonable cost.''

Bredesen had said earlier yesterday that the state shouldn't charge what the TennCare Bureau estimated it would take to tease the records out of state computers, though he didn't provide specifics at the time.

''It's something I'm looking into,'' he told reporters after speaking to the Tennessee Trial Lawyers Association.

The Tennessean recently sued TennCare over its refusal to respond to requests for public records concerning TennCare enrollees by category, spending by category, cost-saving scenarios and other matters.

Bredesen has announced plans to cut 323,000 people from the rolls of the state health program.

A Davidson County chancellor ruled Friday that the state must provide the records, although the amount of money the newspaper would have to pay for some of them was left undecided.

Cooper asked State Finance Commissioner Dave Goetz last week for all the records The Tennessean had requested since October 2004. Goetz replied at the time — and reiterated as recently as Tuesday — that the legislature would be expected to pay as much as the news- paper.

Michael Cass can be reached at 259-8838 or mcass@tennessean.com. Tennessean Washington Bureau reporter Mike Madden contributed to this report.

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