NASHVILLE – Governor Bill Haslam and First Lady Crissy Haslam today recognized 22 state employees for providing outstanding service to the state and their fellow Tennesseans at a luncheon at the Tennessee Residence. The Governor’s Excellence in Service Awards was launched in 2016 to honor outstanding state employees who are helping Tennessee lead by providing efficient and effective state services every day.

A University of Tennessee, Knoxville report released today shows that Tennessee’s overall uninsured rate increased from the 2016 level of 5.5 percent to 6 percent in 2017. Nonetheless, the reported uninsured rate is still at one of the lowest levels in the past two decades. The report entitled The Impact of TennCare: A Survey of Recipients, 2017, released by UT’s Boyd Center for Business and Economic Research, summarizes findings from a survey conducted between May and July 2017.

NASHVILLE – Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam and First Lady Crissy Haslam today announced the Tennessee Children’s Cabinet is accepting nominations for the 2018 Governor’s Awards for Excellence in Early Foundations. These awards were created to recognize collaborative and innovative projects that are helping Tennessee students enter the classroom prepared to learn. “In Tennessee, we believe an education is the pathway to a better future, and that begins with our youngest citizens,” Governor Haslam said. “These awards give us the opportunity to honor the many community agencies and partners across the state who help Tennessee children succeed and start school prepared to learn.”

NASHVILLE – Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam will hold budget hearings for Fiscal Year 2018-2019 on Monday, November 6 through Thursday, November 9. The hearings will be held in the Executive Conference Room on the ground floor of the State Capitol. Haslam, Finance and Administration Commissioner Larry Martin, Chief Operating Officer Greg Adams and David Thurman, state budget director, will preside over the hearings.

NASHVILLE – In a luncheon at the Tennessee Residence today, Governor Bill Haslam and First Lady Crissy Haslam honored 23 state employees for their exceptional service to the state and their fellow Tennesseans. This is the second group of state employees receiving the Governor’s Excellence in Service Awards, a program Gov. Haslam launched in 2016 to honor outstanding state employees. Great service in state government is like great service anywhere – the key ingredient is great employees,” Gov. Haslam said. “The 23 state employees receiving this honor are on the front lines of what we do, leading the effort to help us make Tennessee the best managed state in the nation. I appreciate all the work they and other state employees do to help make Tennessee the best place to live, work and raise a family.”

Nashville – Today Dr. Wendy Long, director of TennCare, the state of Tennessee’s Medicaid program, announced that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) granted a five-year extension of Tennessee’s section 1115 demonstration, TennCare II. The new approval period ends on June 30, 2021.

KNOXVILLE—For the third year in a row, the estimated number of uninsured people in Tennessee dropped, according to a report released today by the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Boyd Center for Business and Economic Research, which is housed in the Haslam College of Business.

Nashville – Dr. Wendy Long, director of TennCare, the state of Tennessee’s Medicaid program, announced today that doctors and hospitals reduced costs while maintaining quality of care in the first year of TennCare’s episodes of care value-based payment strategy.