The concern over the governors statement-

TENNESSEE NOT ONLY CUTS TENNCARE CARE, BUT KICKS OUT PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES.

 By Gene Gantt

"When asked directly by Randy Alexander what his plans were in relation to these specific cuts Governor Bredesen replied, I'm not going to cut their services I'm just going to put then in the nursing home." 

Is worse than can be imagined. If he plans to put vent dependent individuals in a nursing home then it will be in a nursing home in another state. Last year more than 30 Tennesseans were sent to nursing homes in Kentucky, Virginia, North Carolina or Ohio. In Tennessee there are no nursing homes who will provide chronic ventilator care! The state doesn't have a program for this level of care.

So, worse than sending them to prison is sending them to a leper colony in another state. We are diligently working to bring some of them home. Today one came home from Kentucky, next week I hope to get another home from Ohio. 

It is simply inhumane.

Gene Gantt CEO
Respiratory Support Services
Phone 931-823-3702
Fax 931-823-3712
gene@respiratorysupport.com
www.respiratorysupport.com

Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen:
Bigotry or Ignorance?

“I’m not going to cut their services I’m just going to put then in the nursing home.” - Phil Bredesen

The Olmstead decision interpreted Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and its implementing regulation, requiring States to administer their services, programs, and activities "in the most integrated setting appropriate to the needs of qualified individuals with disabilities." 

“I care about them, I’m not cutting their services I’m going to provide their services in a nursing home.” - Phil Bredesen

Whether Phil Bredesen knows it or not, these are our basic civil rights. Allowing Tennessee to take about a hundred of us from our homes and "serve" us in a nursing home is discrimination. It is cheaper for Tennessee to stop building ramps, not provide interpreters, kick us out and hide us away.

“…the state cannot afford to pay for the services of these one hundred people.”  - Phil Bredesen

What citizens will be next to find their civil rights an easy cut for Bredesen? Discrimination, ignorance and bigotry hurt us all.

Governor Bredesen
Governor's Office
Tennessee State Capitol
Nashville, TN 37243-0001

Phone: 615.741.2001
Fax: 615.532.9711
Email: phil.bredesen@state.tn.us