The Tennessee Hospital Association voted to recommend a bed tax to help fund TennCare.

The tax, which the association is calling a “coverage fee,” could range from 1 percent to 2 percent of a hospital’s annual gross receipts. The idea is that the state would use the revenue from the fee to draw down federal funding for TennCare and thus avert the funding cuts.

The fee would be similar to a bed tax that has been imposed on Tennessee nursing homes for several years, which the state uses to draw down federal funds for long-term care in the homes.

One thing is clear, the cuts TennCare has experienced in the past several years is putting serious financial pressure on institutions like The Med and Nashville General. Something has to be done to help keep these institutions afloat financially, particularly now when so many people are unemployed/uninsured.