NASHVILLE - A defiant Haslam administration late this afternoon fired off its response to federal officials over their criticism of Tennessee's implementation of eligibility and enrollment rules for the state-operated Medicaid program and Children's Health Insurance Program under the federal health law.
In a 16-page letter to Cindy Mann, director of the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicare Services, TennCare Director Darin Gordon took issue with CMS' assertions the state is not in compliance with most of its obligations with regard to streamlined eligiblity and enrollment processes.
"We must respectfully disagree," Gordon wrote in his letter to Mann, meeting a federal deadline for a response to CMS' concerns over seven "critical success factors" stated in a June 27 missive fron the agency to the state.
Moreover, Gordon said, "as a formal matter, I am also obliged to correct several mistaken assertions in your letter."
He outlined what he considers to be "five misstatements or mischaracterization."