Tennessee will not be the next Republican state to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act after its “private option” plan was shot down in a state Senate Health and Welfare Committee by 7-4, according to Politico.
The plan is seen as having little chance of being revived during the regular legislative session.
Republican Gov. Bill Haslam’s expansion approach, called Insure Tennessee, had hospitals sharing in the cost.
[Also: Tennessee proposes private option]
The Tennessee Hospital Association, the Tennessee Business Roundtable and the Tennessee Medical Association all spoke in support of plan.
The conservative Beacon Center of Tennessee suggested the state could be locking itself into expansion long term even though the federal government has made assurances otherwise, according to Politico.
Haslam had been negotiating with federal officials for months on a conservative approach to expansion. Yet some Republicans were skeptical of the governor’s contention that the state wouldn’t be saddled with additional costs.
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So far, 10 states with Republican governors have expanded Medicaid, with Indiana Gov. Mike Pence being the latest to secure approval for an alternative model, according to politico. Other GOP governors who have come out in favor of expansion, including Gov. Gary Herbert in Utah and Gov. Matt Mead in Wyoming, are now trying to get state lawmakers to endorse the models they have negotiated with the federal government.
Haslam, the chair of the Republican Governors Association, proposed a two-year pilot program that included setting up health reimbursement accounts to help individuals cover their out-of-pocket costs while requiring premiums and copays. The plan would have covered more than 250,000 uninsured adults.
The Tennessee defeat comes as top Republicans in Washington announced an alternative plan to the president’s Affordable Care Act. On Wednesday, Senate Finance Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, House Energy and Commerce Chairman Fred Upton, R-Mich. and Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., presented a plan no longer requiring individuals to buy healthcare coverage and takes away the mandate for employers to offer it. It would keep the tax credits to help low-income Americans buy private insurance coverage.
The GOP plan was released the same week that the House cast its first vote to repeal Obamacare.
Twitter: @SusanMorseHFN