TennCare officials garner pay raises despite cuts       May 2, 2006 WSMV I-Team Investigation Reported by Nancy Amons A Channel 4 I-Team investigation has discovered that while TennCare was cutting 170,000 people's health coverage, it has been giving raises and promotions to its top officials. Our I-Team investigation found that as the number of people on TennCare was shrinking, TennCare's payroll actually increased by $3.5 million. Also the number of administrators making more than $100,000 a year has doubled in the last three years. Some of TennCare's top people got salary increases of 50 percent and more. Channel 4 showed what we found to Sandra Flanigan -- a part-time pastor who lost her TennCare. The I-Team discovered these pay increases by analyzing three year's worth of state payroll numbers. "This, this is just unbelievable. That's not irresponsible, that's reckless. They don't have money to take care of sick people," said Flanigan. TennCare's spokesman Michael Drescher says the salaries are money well spent. "We didn't have a deep enough bench. We now a sufficient bench of experienced professionals and they are running a program in a way that has gotten it stabilized and where it needs to be," said Michael Drescher, TennCare Spokesman. The upward salary spirals had already begun in 2003 just before Governor Phil Bredesen announced that TennCare was in worse financial shape than anyone thought. Over the next year, TennCare continued its flurry of big-money new hires, raises and promotions. Wendy Long, for example, moved from the Health Department to become the medical director of TennCare. Her second in command, David Collier, went from $90,000 to $144,4000 in three years -- a 59% increase. Patti Killingsworth, whose duties include overseeing TennCare appeals and denials, rose from $77,000 to $109,000, a 41% increase. They all work for J.D. Hickey and were hired in June 2004 to run TennCare. Incidently, he is the highest paid employee in the state, outside of higher education and makes $223,524 a year. His staff is better-paid than ever before. Twelve TennCare administrators now make more than $100,000 a year. In 2003, there were only six. "You had mid-level people who are now in senior management positions. Obviously when they move up in responsibility, their salary goes up as well," said Drescher. "Well, these are certainly high-paid individuals,” said Rep Joey Hensley. Joey Hensley is both a rural doctor and a legislator. He fought the TennCare cuts. "We've just cut off thousands and thousands of Tennesseans and the ones that remain on TennCare, we have restricted their benefits because we couldn't afford it. But we can afford these 50% raises? That's just not right, that's not fair," said Hensley. To put it in context, consider the following: The average state worker got only a nine percent raise during the same three-year time period. "It's infuriating and I'm mad, but it's so tragic from my point of view," said Flanigan. TENNCARE Protestors Arrested Tenn. Counties' Health Ranked BACK