The TN GOP's weekly hit piece touts "key health care reform proposals" to provide seniors "more options" for long-term health care.

They are taking credit for reforms Gov. Bredesen has been pushing for, while accusing him of offering "no specifics, no money and no real plan" and paying only lip service themselves.

The TN GOP propaganda sheet doesn't provide much in the way of specifics, other than giving a cash allowance for seniors to spend however they want on "self-directed care programs."

Best I can tell, they are talking about SB1157, which also has no specifics, no funding, and no real plan. All it does is authorize a commission to develop a plan. And only for six counties. And it's been kicking around in committees for over a year.

It's puzzling why this is all of a sudden news. (Of course, I could be wrong, and as always I'm happy to be educated.) But expect to see newspaper headlines applauding the state's "plan" to provide long-term home health care for seniors.

Affordable long-term home health care is a worthy goal, especially for indigent seniors. Medicare provides no long-term health care benefits, but once you're bankrupt Medicaid provides nursing home care. Expanding it to provide assisted living or home health care can help seniors stay out of nursing homes and reduce costs.

But the obvious question is, why do Republicans, who would just as soon do away with Medicare and Medicaid/TennCare altogether, support this idea? There must be pony in there somewhere for somebody, right?

Maybe it's in the last provision of the bill, which states that the plan must provide "fiscal agent and supportive broker services to sustain individuals and families in directing their own services."

Along with the idea of "flexible spending" cash vouchers, this translates to "privatizing Medicaid and outsourcing program administration to our pals in the nursing home, home health care, and insurance business."

Government run health care programs for the needy should be run by the government to eliminate profits and minimize costs and also to eliminate fraud and waste. Of course they are going to work with nursing homes and home health care providers. But the state should determine eligibility, write the checks, and oversee the program.

The other part of their "legislative package" claims to to "encourage responsibility by rewarding those who purchase long term care insurance."

They don't provide any specifics, but problems with long-term care insurance are numerous and well documented. The Tennessee Republican Party is the last bunch on earth anyone should trust for advice on long-term care insurance.

Finally, the charge that Bredesen has "closed 37 nursing homes" while Republicans are "moving ahead with reforms" would be laughable if this weren't such a serious issue. The state has to shut down nursing homes to protect the lives of seniors .

Just today it was reported that the Tennessee Department of Health suspended admissions at a Jackson area nursing home because inspectors found violations related to "protection from abuse, administration, nursing services, performance improvement and social services standards."

Meanwhile, Republicans in the Tennessee legislature have proposed a bill that would protect nursing home operators from lawsuits. Ironically, the bill is being promoted by a prominent nursing home operator who is involved in a number of multi-million dollar lawsuits and was also the target of a probe into massive Medicare fraud.

So the TN GOP's criticism of Gov. Bredesen for regulating nursing homes to protect the lives and wellbeing of seniors while they at the same time propose legislation to protect abusive nursing home operators is astounding in its mendacity and hypocrisy .

But, that's what we've come to expect from the Tennessee Republican Party. The Republican legislators mentioned in the TN GOP hit piece should be ashamed to have their name associated with it.