The Tennessee Star Blazes by 4 Million Visits

  FRANKLIN, Tennessee–In less than two months since September, traffic at The Tennessee Star has grown from 3 million visits to an astounding 4 million visits subsequent to its launch in early February. WOW!! We just had our FOUR MILLIONTH visit to The https://t.co/Awo9LigL60 since our launch Feb 6. THANK YOU, Tennessee – your readership and support mean the world to us! pic.twitter.com/aThos9gCeg — Tennessee Star (@TheTNStar) November 17, 2017 Launched on February 6, The Star hit the 3 million visit mark on September 23. It took just 7  weeks and 6 days to add another 1 million visits and hit the 4 million visit mark on Friday, November 17. It took The Star 3 months and 16 days from its launch on February 6 until it hit the first 1 million visit mark on May 23. Adding another million total visits in about half the time it took to reach the first million visits is a sign The Star’s traffic growth continues to accelerate dramatically. When asked what the secret to the upstart news outlet’s success is, Managing Editor Christina Botteri replied, “That is an interesting question. I believe it’s a number of factors that together, have created a new…

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Lamar Alexander Asks Orrin Hatch to Hold Senate Hearings on Revoking Obama-Era Regulation Used by CMS Bureaucrats to Victimize West Tennessee Doctor

Over the weekend, Senator Lamar Alexander (R-TN) told Mayor Jill Holland of McKenzie, Tennessee that he will encourage Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT) to conduct hearings at the Senate Finance Committee he chairs on whether an Obama-era regulation that is hitting West Tennesssee’s Dr. Bryan Merrick should be revoked, along with other corrections. A spokesperson for the senator confirmed to The Tennessee Star that Alexander will ask Hatch to hold those hearings. Alexander chairs the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, which he says does not have jurisdiction over the CMS regulation. Senator Hatch chairs the Senate Finance Committee, which does have jurisdiction over the CMS regulation. Surprising as that may seem, official Senate rules confirm that the Senate Finance Committee has jurisdiction over all health programs based on federal taxes, which includes Medicare and Medicaid. Senator Paul Toomey (R-PA) chairs the Health Care Subcommittee of the Senate Finance Committee, the most likely place for such hearings to be held. On Friday, Mayor Jill Holland of McKenzie sent a letter to Senator Alexander asking him to hold hearings of the Senate HELP committee he chairs for the purpose of revoking the CMS regulation, as The Star reported: Writing “on behalf of the citizens…

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West Tennessee Doctor Dropped by Medicare a Caring Man Who Would Never Cheat the System, Supporters Say

Five years ago, Janice Lowery of West Tennessee moved to another town, which left her a greater distance away from the doctor she had been going to for more than a decade. But she wasn’t about to look for another doctor, even though it would not have been hard to find one near her new home. Instead, she has continued to see Dr. Bryan Merrick at the McKenzie Medical Center, driving an hour and a half one way to get there. Merrick is a caring doctor who doesn’t dash in and out of the room and make you feel like a number, Lowery said. “He listens to you,” she said. “You don’t feel rushed.” Lowery even drives her husband, who is legally blind, to see Merrick for separate appointments. Like many of Merrick’s patients, Lowery was alarmed this past spring when he was accused of Medicare fraud and lost his Medicare reimbursement privileges for three years. It’s a turn of events that many of his supporters consider an injustice, and they fault distant bureaucrats with not caring about their small rural community. Merrick, who is 62 and has been practicing medicine for more than 30 years, was found to have…

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Supporters of West Tennessee Doctor Frustrated With U.S. Rep. David Kustoff in Medicare Billing Case

Supporters of a beloved rural West Tennessee doctor they say is falsely accused of Medicare fraud are frustrated with the lack of response they are getting from U.S. Rep. David Kustoff (R-TN-8), whom they have turned to for help. Dr. Bryan Merrick of the McKenzie Medical Center lost his Medicare reimbursement privileges in April for three years over $670 in billing errors. Only 30 billings for 10 patients, less than one-tenth of 1 percent of 30,000 claims submitted, were identified as being incorrect in a review by the federal government. Merrick, who has been practicing for more than three decades, has maintained they were clerical errors. Jill Mayo, a registered nurse and the practice manager at McKenzie Medical Center, told The Tennessee Star on Friday that the practice reached out to Rep. Kustoff’s office in May. While his office has said Kustoff has been looking into the matter, he has not offered Merrick any concrete help or insight, according to Mayo. “Nothing has changed,” Mayo said. Kustoff’s office released a statement to The Star late Friday saying, “Congressman Kustoff is aware of Dr. Merrick’s situation, and our office has been in contact with CMS [Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services] regarding the…

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