In business this week, the Cookeville City Council approved a resolution that they hope makes their displeasure clear to Tennessee legislators.  

Responding to House Bill 3171, introduced by Charles Curtiss of White County, and the Senate bill introduced by Charlotte Burks of Monterey, the Council questioned the purpose and intent of the bill targeting CRMC and Putnam county. 

The House bill reads that it "prohibits the state employee health plan or its contractors or third-party administrators from
entering into exclusive contracts with hospitals in Putnam County."   The Senate bill, slightly more cryptic, references any Tennessee community with a 2000 census level of not less than 62,300 and not more than 62,400 persons.   There is only one Tennessee community with those numbers -- Cookeville.  

If passed, the agreement that CRMC has with TTU under their Cigna health care plan would be unlawful.  

The Cookeville Regional Medical Center is owned by the citizens of Cookeville and the CRMC Board answers to the City Council.   As such, it is expected to operate competitively while also being required to treat all who need healthcare, regardless of their ability to pay. 

CRMC is one of the area's largest employers and, City Council member Ricky Shelton asserts that what is good for the regional medical center, generally, is good for the community as a whole. 

Tennessee Technological University offers its employees two healthcare options -- a Blue Cross plan and a Cigna health plan.  According to Shelton, under the Cigna health plan option, TTU and CRMC negotiated rates for health care services that would be both advantageous to the university and, based on the volume of business, advantageous to CRMC.

The fact that negotiated rates are being used is, according to industry experts, quite prevalent in healthcare.   Said Shelton, "Just for the sake of argument, if you agreed that there needed to be something done to even the playing field in health care with state employees, why target one health care center in one city?   If it was truly something being done for the greater good, should it not apply to the whole state or at least multiple health care facilities?"

Shelton said that he was genuinely confused about the genesis of the House and Senate bills.  "We've had no discussions on this, we've not be consulted or asked for input.  It is truly out of the blue." 

Mayor Sam Sallee speculated that the bills may have been the result of misunderstandings.   But the effort, having moved to bill status in both House and Senate, appears to have some level of coordination or communication behind it. 

Shelton said that it begs the question, "Why are they doing this?  To do something to harm the area's largest employer makes no sense.   Charles Curtiss doesn't represent Cookeville.  Why has he introduced this legislation targeting only this hospital in this county?" 

Speculation that the legislation may have been driven by other area health care providers seeking to "even the playing field" drew this comment from Shelton, "I see the needs of health care every day -- we need everyone to do what they're doing for every service that exists in our area.   I'm proud of the work that all of them are doing.  But we need to work collaboratively for solutions that benefit us all."

A source who prefers being off record stated "It is important to note that the kind of contract CRMC has with TTU (through Cigna) is not unusual.  Almost every major health provider in this area has some sort of negotiated deal --- whether it be for pre-employment screenings or health risk assessments -- anywhere there is a group seeking a better overall price on health, and a provider seeking a book of business, there is room for legal business agreements.   Targeting the hospital in this legislation is completely inappropriate and unethical." 

The hospital board has approved a similar resolution which, along with the City Council resolution, will now be sent to the legislature.

Senator Burks, Representative Curtiss and Representative Fincher's offices have all been contacted for comment and updates are expected to follow.