Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) made the following statement today after voting for funding for U.S. troops and against a "massive domestic spending package."

“While I realize it is necessary to appropriate funding for our troops through the supplemental process, funding for all other programs should go through the normal budget process, otherwise we will continue to have more out of control spending in Washington,” said Corker. “While I strongly support many of the programs that were included in the domestic portion of the supplemental, I could not vote for them as part of this bill because they were not part of the normal budget process.”

Sen. Corker added: “I am glad that yesterday we were able to work with the Administration to extend the moratorium on the Medicaid rule changes which are vitally important to our state.”

In regard to the moratorium issue included in the bill, Corker noted that the administration announced Wednesday it would postpone implementation of two proposed rules governing Medicaid until Aug. 1, which will temporarily prevent Tennessee from losing an estimated $232 million per year in federal funding – a loss that would have resulted in significant cuts in services to TennCare beneficiaries and eliminated vital federal support for Tennessee medical students.

“While our ultimate goal should be true health care reform in this country, in the interim we need to do everything possible to keep the health care infrastructure in Tennessee strong and able to serve the citizens of our state,” said Corker. “Senator Alexander and I have been working with Governor Bredesen and federal officials for over a year on these issues, and I am pleased that the Administration has suspended any cuts until August. I hope this signals a commitment to work with states to achieve a thoughtful reform of the program that is fiscally responsible, while maintaining health care access to Medicaid recipients. While our health care system must be reformed, the changes that result should be made in coordination with states and in a way that ensures a smooth transition.”

The first rule would have restricted the definition of a “public” hospital eligible to use Certified Public Expenditures (CPEs), which help states fund their Medicaid programs. This would have a significant impact on 19 Tennessee hospitals, including safety net hospitals such as The Med in Memphis and Erlanger Hospital in Chattanooga. Under the proposed rule, the definition of “public provider” would effectively restrict the pool of public providers in Tennessee to one, Metro General Hospital in Nashville. The Med and Erlanger would no longer be eligible for federal funding. Based on analysis from the TennCare Bureau, which administers Tennessee's Medicaid program, the proposed rule would cause Tennessee to lose an estimated $200 million in federal funding per year and force significant cuts in services to Tennesseans, it was stated.