NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- New pressure is being put on the state of Tennessee to change a policy that some families believe puts their sick loved ones in danger.

Video: Family's Ask State To Change Home Care Policy

A few hundred critically ill patients are getting letters that they can't get care at home anymore and will have to be moved to a nursing home.

A group of health activists is calling on lawmakers to stop that from happening despite the state saying that the change is for the better of everyone involved.

Families all over Tennessee challenged Gov. Phil Bredesen and TennCare to help them keep their loved ones from dying.

Nita Guinn's 30-year-old son, Lee Murphy, has muscular dystrophy and must have care 24 hours per day, seven days per week.

"He can’t even yell for help. He can only mumble and you go running to see what’s wrong to find out that the ventilator has stopped. And if someone’s not right there immediately to start bagging him, he dies," she said.

LaMonica Barnett said she has tried putting her brother Carl Anders in two different nursing homes, but he ended up getting pneumonia and other health issues that complicated his stroke.

"Numerous staph infections, his trach would become dislodged due to staff neglect, and he was not receiving any type of therapy and actually, unofficially, I had several people on staff telling me, 'Your brother would be better off at home, because we cannot provide the care that he really needs,'" she said. But according to the state's TennCare office, money is a concern and that the care the residents desperately need for their loved ones costs too much.

Managed care organizations that work with TennCare have to do an assessment to see what the needs are and if the costs are justified.

The care groups have sent letters to those they believe aren't justified, but there is still an appeal process to go through if someone doesn't his or her assessment is right.

For some, even a nursing home might not be an option.

The families said they've asked lawmakers and the governor's office to change the policy but that their efforts have failed.

TennCare officials said that the policy is about serving more people in the home rather than fewer. Officials with TennCare added that there is a free training option for families who want to keep their loved ones at home. They can learn basic care, such as how to administer medications or how to reposition a patient in bed.

Interested residents can call the office at 615-507-6000.