News 2015

The estimated number of uninsured people in Tennessee continues to drop, according to a report released today by the Center for Business and Economic Research at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville’s Haslam College of Business. These numbers are a part of “The Impact of TennCare: A Survey of Recipients 2015,” a report authored by LeAnn Luna, CBER professor, and Angela Thacker, CBER research associate.
The purpose of the annual study is to determine the insurance status of Tennessee residents, collect information about their use of medical facilities and gauge the extent of their satisfaction with services received.
The survey indicates that 95 percent of recipients report satisfaction with the TennCare program, indicating that TennCare provides medical care in a satisfactory manner and meets the expectations of those it serves.
The number of uninsured children has dropped by more than half since 2013, and 98.5 percent of children are currently insured.  Over the same period, the number of uninsured adults has decreased by approximately 152,000, and the 8.2 percent rate of uninsured adults is the lowest recorded in the survey since 2004.   
According to the report, this downward trend began in 2013, coinciding with the availability of the health insurance marketplace established as part of the Affordable Care Act.
The study outlines care-seeking habits of TennCare recipients as well. When it comes to initial care, the study shows that TennCare enrollees increasingly choose doctors’ offices and clinics versus hospitals and emergency departments.
“Although TennCare enrollees are less likely than all households to seek initial care at a doctor’s office or clinic, significantly more initially sought care at those providers in the current survey (94 percent) than in 2014 (90 percent),” said Luna.
This year a larger share of TennCare enrollees reported receiving information from TennCare. This information includes enrollment cards, information on filing appeals, a list of rights and responsibilities, and the name of their managed care organization.
The survey, which interviewed approximately 5,000 heads of households by telephone between May and July 2015, is a regular follow-up to previous surveys conducted since 1993.
CBER conducted the survey under contract with the Tennessee Department of Finance and Administration.
To read the report, visit http://cber.haslam.utk.edu/tncare.htm.

Wednesday, Oct. 14 is the day for the Arnold Engineering Development Center (AEDC) Wildlife Management Area units 1 & 2 first come, first serve 2015 deer permits to go on sale.   Permits can be purchased at any Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency’s license agent or through the internet at www.tnwildlife.org beginning at 8 a.m. (CDT). Hunters who purchase the permit are reminded that they will need to retain their receipt. The receipt will serve as the permit. No phone sales will be accepted.
A permit fee will not be charged to Annual Sportsman (Type 004) or Lifetime Sportsman (Types 402 thru 405) license holders or an Annual Senior Citizen Permit (Type 167). For all other license holders, the cost is $12 per permit, plus agent fee.
Customers can only obtain one permit per hunt choice. Customers can obtain one permit for each hunt choice for a total of three permits per person.
First come, first serve permits are sold one at a time per transaction. Customers can purchase permits for others as long as they have all their pertinent information. The same one permit per hunt choice applies.
            The privilege codes for the first come, first serve AEDC WMA permits are as follows:
            345 for Lifetime and Annual Sportsman and Seniors holding a current Type 167
            346 for all other license holders.
This applies to youths and adults purchasing a permit.
The dates confirmed for November by the U.S. Air Force:
CODE              AREA                                      DATE                                       QUOTA
 
4                        Unit 1                              November 27-29, 2015                         100
5                        Unit 2                              November 13-15, 2015                         200
6                        Unit 2                              November 27-29, 2015                         200
 
AEDC consists of 32,000 acres and is located in Coffee and Franklin counties. Unit 1 was previously known as the TNARNG maneuver area. Unit 2 is the Camp Forrest area, from the golf course to UTSI road and Wattendorf Memorial Highway to the southern boundary.
– See more at: http://tn.gov/news/18546#sthash.pHIG5nrH.dpuf
Wednesday, Oct. 14 is the day for the Arnold Engineering Development Center (AEDC) Wildlife Management Area units 1 & 2 first come, first serve 2015 deer permits to go on sale.  
Permits can be purchased at any Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency’s license agent or through the internet at www.tnwildlife.org beginning at 8 a.m. (CDT). Hunters who purchase the permit are reminded that they will need to retain their receipt. The receipt will serve as the permit. No phone sales will be accepted.
A permit fee will not be charged to Annual Sportsman (Type 004) or Lifetime Sportsman (Types 402 thru 405) license holders or an Annual Senior Citizen Permit (Type 167). For all other license holders, the cost is $12 per permit, plus agent fee.
Customers can only obtain one permit per hunt choice. Customers can obtain one permit for each hunt choice for a total of three permits per person.
First come, first serve permits are sold one at a time per transaction. Customers can purchase permits for others as long as they have all their pertinent information. The same one permit per hunt choice applies.
            The privilege codes for the first come, first serve AEDC WMA permits are as follows:
            345 for Lifetime and Annual Sportsman and Seniors holding a current Type 167
            346 for all other license holders.
This applies to youths and adults purchasing a permit.
The dates confirmed for November by the U.S. Air Force:
CODE              AREA                                      DATE                                       QUOTA
 
4                        Unit 1                              November 27-29, 2015                         100
5                        Unit 2                              November 13-15, 2015                         200
6                        Unit 2                              November 27-29, 2015                         200
 
AEDC consists of 32,000 acres and is located in Coffee and Franklin counties. Unit 1 was previously known as the TNARNG maneuver area. Unit 2 is the Camp Forrest area, from the golf course to UTSI road and Wattendorf Memorial Highway to the southern boundary.

The next Cannon County commodities program will be Thursday at the Cannon County Community Center The Temporary Emergency Food Assistance Program, known as commodities, served over 950,000 pounds of food to the 14 county area covered by UCHRA in the 2013-2014 fiscal year. The need will be even greater this year as those who have become unemployed will be seeking relief.
If you think you or someone you know qualifies for the commodities program, please contact Cannon County UCHRA office at 615-563-2914for more information. Interested in applying for commodities? Fill out our commodities eligibility application here.
Everyone must present a valid UCHRA commodity card in order to receive commodities.  The U.S.D.A.’s Temporary Emergency Food Assistance Program is available to all eligible recipients regardless of race, color, national origin, age, sex or handicap.
 

The United Way of Rutherford and Cannon Counties is currently seeking volunteers for the 2016 Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program.  VITA is a free service and will aid qualifying local residents in claiming their tax refund dollars. In 2015, VITA volunteers filed nearly 730 tax returns resulting in over $1 million returned into Rutherford and Cannon counties.
Volunteers are needed from January to April 2016 to assist with VITA sites located in Murfreesboro and Smyrna.  Volunteer hours are flexible and depend on the volunteer’s availability.  Experience with tax preparation is preferred but not required.
Volunteer responsibilities will include greeting, screening and/or tax preparation. Volunteer registration is available at www.yourlocalvita.org. Volunteers must pass a certification test in order to be a VITA volunteer. Trainings will be provided to help potential volunteers prepare for the certification test. These trainings are not mandatory but are beneficial to those taking the test.
For additional questions and information, please visit www.yourlocalvita.org or contact the United Way at (615) 893-7303.

The Adams Memorial Library will be closed today for a Staff Training Day

On Saturday October 10 the Cannon County Middle XC team competed at regional meet in Macon County. The girls team placed first for varsity. The boys varsity team placed 4th at regionals therefore earning a spot at the State meet October 24 in Knoxville, TN.  Girls team members are:
Amanda Blanco, WGS
Angela Blanco, WGS
Grace Campbell, Westside
Rudy DeArmond, WGS
Lexie Deese, Short Mountain 
Zettie Elrod, WoodlandMadison Gaither, Auburntown
Hannah Highins, WGS
Lauren Knox, WGS
Sydney Wisdom, Westside
Autumn Young, Woodland 
Boys team members are:
Duncan Cook, WGS
Tristan Davis, WGS
Ian DeArmond, WGS
Matthew Elmy, WGS
Collin Reed, WGS
Tyler Southworth, Woodland
Elementary students earning a spot a state are:
Georgia Hawkins, WGS
Maddie Reed, WGS
Boone Elrod, Woodland
Jake Foster, WGS
Nick Foster, WGS
James Hawkins, WGS
Gunter Pitts, Woodland
Waylon Southworth, Woodland

Each school day, Cannon County schools are entrusted to provide safe and healthy learning environments. However, emergency situations can arise without warning. In an effort to better prepare for and respond to emergency situations in schools, the Cannon County School System recently held emergency response plan review meetings with local emergency and school officials in attendance. This meeting provided an opportunity for the school system, as well as each individual school, to gather input from local emergency responders to better align their emergency response plan with best practices. 
In Tennessee, schools are required by law to annually review their plan. Tennessee Code Annotated. § 49-6-(801-814) or the SAVE Act (Schools Against Violence in Education) establishes specific and consistent requirements for local education agencies in providing a safe school environment. Cannon County’s plan addresses a full range of disaster response, such as natural disasters, intruders, criminal activity, bus accidents, etc…
 
By having plans in place to keep students and staff safe, schools play a key role in taking preventative and protective measures to stop an emergency from occurring or reduce the impact of an incident. In any emergency, the primary concern is to take all appropriate and reasonable actions to protect the safety of children and staff. Cannon County Schools work hard to prepare our staff and students on how to respond in the event of an emergency.  Schools are encouraged to host a School Safety night to help educate parents and the community as well. 
 

The Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development announces it’s  mobile Career Coach will be at the Mid-Cumberland Head Start in Woodbury located at 630 West Lehman Street on Thursday, October 15th, from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Career Coach staff will be on-site helping people to create resumes and register with Jobs4TN.gov where there are more than 90,000 jobs available.  For more information contact 615-741-8892  

October 13—Report CardsOctober 13 – Pre-K through 8th grade Parent/Teacher Conferences, 3:00 p.m.-6:00 p.m.
October 15—CCHS (grades 9-12) Parent/Teacher Conferences, 3:00 p.m.-6:00 p.m.
October 16—Adams Memorial Book Battle Reading Challenge ends
October 16—CCHS Football game with Sequatchie Co. at home, 7:00 p.m.
October 17—Cross Country Mid-State Championship
October 19-23—FALL BREAK
October 26—Border Wars Tournament at WGS
October 27—Border Wars Tournament at WGS
October 28—WBRY Spotlight on schools—featured school East Side Elementary, 8:00 a.m.
October 29—TSSAA Regional Cross Country Meet—Chattanooga
October 29—Border Wars Tournament at WGS
October 30—CCHS Football game at DeKalb Co., 7:00 p.m.
October 30—Border Wars Tournament finals at WGS

Dear Friends,This week I spoke on the phone with over 7,000 middle Tennesseans for a teletown hall. Questions ranged from the Speaker’s race, to the cost of healthcare, to the Syrian refugee crisis, but there was a common thread of general disappointment with the way things work in Washington. I’m as frustrated as anyone, because I see the dysfunction up close day-in and day-out. 
Here in the House of Representatives, we’ve made some important accomplishments: we got the earliest start on funding bills since 1974, we passed the REINS Act to give Congress the final say over burdensome new administrative rules and regulations, and we passed a half-dozen pro-life bills to name a few. But in the Senate, it is a different story. The former do-nothing majority under Harry Reid is now a do-nothing minority. Democrats are obstructing conservative, House-passed bills by using a procedural tool known as the filibuster. 
This allows the minority party in the Senate to block consideration of a bill unless it receives 60 votes in its favor. It has proven effective for Democrats because Republicans only hold 54 of the chamber’s 100 seats. As a result, bills like the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act – which would protect unborn children from late-term abortion – and legislation to disapprove of the President’s disastrous nuclear deal with Iran were blocked from ever getting a final vote in this chamber. 
While there is no magic formula to stop Senate Democrats’ obstructionism, there is a tool available to Congress that can allow certain measures to reach the President’s desk without the procedural hurdles that most items of legislation must overcome: reconciliation. This mechanism, which is spelled out in the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, allows Congress to produce legislation that changes mandatory spending or revenue and advance it through the process with the support of a simple majority in the Senate, rather than the usual 60 votes required to move legislation forward in that chamber. Importantly, legislation passed through reconciliation would still require the President’s signature to become law – but it puts the President on record, forcing him to make a decision and defend that to the American people. 
Reconciliation can only be used once a year and anything attached to the bill must be budgetary in nature. For example, Congress could not use reconciliation to force a vote on a border security bill. But we can use it to go after the most egregious portions of Obamacare and combat funding for Planned Parenthood. That is exactly what the reconciliation bill for this year does. 
Specifically, our reconciliation package will:

Repeal Obamacare’s individual and employer mandate

Repeal Obamacare’s Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB) – the panel of 15 unelected bureaucrats tasked with rationing care for Medicare beneficiaries 

Repeal Obamacare’s medical device tax

Place a one year moratorium on federal funding to Planned Parenthood 
Today, my colleagues and I on the House Budget Committee held a markup of this reconciliation package, where we listened to debate from both sides of the aisle and ultimately voted by 21 to 11 to send this measure to the House floor. I spoke out during the markup about the importance of the provisions in the bill to combat Planned Parenthood. You can watch my remarks here.
We know that the most meaningful changes to Washington will require President Obama’s retirement from the Oval Office, but I believe that, until then, we should use every tool at our disposal to put our conservative priorities in front of the American people and force President Obama to go on record by either accepting or rejecting our solutions. A strong reconciliation bill that combats the broken promises of Obamacare and the abuses of life at Planned Parenthood will go a long way in accomplishing that goal.