Judge: TennCare must produce records in newspaper's request

By COLIN FLY
Associated Press Writer
February 19, 2005

NAHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) _ A judge ordered the state's TennCare program to turn over certain public records in response to a request from The Tennessean newspaper.

In a bench ruling Friday, Davidson County Chancellor Ellen Hobbs Lyle gave TennCare officials until Feb. 28 to produce some documents and to estimate how much it would cost to create the rest of the data the newspaper seeks.

"I'd characterize it as a victory for open records," said Everett J. Mitchell II, vice president of news and editor of The Tennessean. "The state had indeed not complied, and (the judge) did not grant their request to dismiss the case. Since we found TennCare was unresponsive, she told them to reply to our request."

The newspaper’s lawsuit sought information about the 1.3 million people participating in the state's $8 billion program for the poor and uninsured. Gov. Phil Bredesen wants to purge 323,000 people from the system to save money.

The judge ruled that the state did not have to pay court costs because TennCare officials didn't deliberately violate the state's open records law.

 "Today, Davidson County Chancery Court confirmed our commitment to openness with respect to the Bureau of TennCare," Bredesen said in a statement. "I'm pleased this matter has been brought to a swift conclusion."

The newspaper sought information that included the number of patients in each category of TennCare, the amount of money spent by the state on each category of recipient and how much money would be saved under each TennCare overhaul proposal considered by Bredesen.

TennCare officials said they did not have that data in the format the paper requested. They said they were willing to cooperate, but would have to write a special computer program to fulfill the entire request. The judge's ruling gives them until the end of the month to determine how much that will cost.

"We made progress," said Frank Gibson, director of Tennessee Coalition for Open Government, which tried to intervene in the suit but was denied. The judge said her decision made the request “moot.”

"Had The Tennessean not filed the lawsuit there might still be no movement,” Gibson said. “At least now the state has a court-ordered deadline for releasing the information."

Lyle also denied the Chattanooga Times Free Press request to enter the case as a friend of the court.

TennCare spokesman Michael Drescher said he was pleased the judge recognized that TennCare officials had been "open and honest and forthcoming in trying to meet The Tennessean's request."

Copyright 2005 By The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.