Several members of the local media received an update from County Commissioner Mike Ritz about the federal complaint he's brought against the state and Gov. Bredesen for what he says amounts to civil-rights discrimination based on how federal Medicaid funds are distributed (or not distributed) back to The Regional Medical Center at Memphis. But it was our own Richard Locker, in Nashville, who knew the repercussions that might come with Ritz becoming more aggressive, and the story he filed this afternoon captures the consternation among some of the Shelby County state legislators. They're afraid that Ritz's actions -- which he contends are long overdue and a response to what he contends are Gov. Bredesen's and the state's shoddy treatment of Shelby County -- could endanger the short-term funding solutions that have been cobbled together for The Med.
From Rick's story:
From Rick's story:
The e-mail (from Ritz) says: "I filed this amendment to my complaint against the state and DHHS (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services). The governor continues to play the rest of the state against the Med in all matters politic (sic) and fiscal...."
In his May 13 letter to the Health and Human Services' office of civil rights, Ritz claimed that the state "did not timely request" federal approval for federal matching money for Shelby County's new $10 million additional appropriation for the hospital -- federal money that he said would total $30 million but which state officials expect will be only $20 million under the usual 2-for-1 formula in which the federal government helps Tennessee finance its TennCare/Medicaid program.
"I am sure the state has political and practical excuses for not making the timely request, but I find their actions to be discriminatory in intent and effect," Ritz wrote.
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