Tennessee State Senator Mark Norris unveiled a serious gap in TennCare’s filings for nearly $23 million in Medicaid Administrative Claims money that local governments have already earned. “The failure to file forms on time means local governments will continue to lose more money for work that they have already performed,” stated Senator Norris (R-Colliersville) who questions TennCare’s boggling procedures on money matters.
Sevier County stands to lose over $250,000 from TennCare’s failure to timely file for MAC funds. The state Department of Education appears to have done its homework. TennCare has filed a plan with the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) for the MAC Program, but no one has followed through on making provisional placeholder claims that must be made within a two-year rolling window or else the funds are gone forever.
The MAC Program provides federal reimbursement to local Tennessee school systems for administrative activities performed to link children to the TennCare Program and needed health services. School systems in the state began the quarterly claiming process during the 2000-2001 school year. To date, schools in Tennessee have not received reimbursement through this program, according to the Tennessee School Boards Association (TSBA).
Sevier County Schools are joined with Knox County in their MAC filings through LEADERS. “We have continued to file our claims and perform the studies on how much time our employees spend on this program and equate that with dollar figures, ” said Sevier County School Finance Director, Karen King, “We’re hoping to collect the funds back if they are available, so far we have seen nothing.”
In a report to the Senate Education Committee dated May 12, TSBA Director of Government Relations, Stephen Smith states that, “School districts in several states throughout the country…are currently taking advantage of this program, drawing down millions in quarterly reimbursements and providing crucial dollars to schools in
Members of the Senate Education Committee who received the report from Norris were very concerned and at the request of the Speaker Pro Tem a motion was passed requesting a report from the administration in two weeks on what is being done.

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