Tennessee lawmakers blocked a proposal by Gov. Bill Haslam to expand Medicaid to an estimated 280,000 low-income residents.
A panel voted 7-4 on Wednesday afternoon to kill the plan, ending a special legislative session the governor had called for the express purpose of considering it. There’s little chance legislators will take up the plan again during their regular legislative session.
Like a similar proposal by Utah Gov. Gary Herbert, Haslam wanted to use the extra Medicaid funding provided under the Affordable Care Act to help low-income residents buy private health coverage. Other Republican governors — most recently Indiana Gov. Mike Pence — have received permission from the Obama administration to use the Medicaid dollars in alternative ways.
States have the option of expanding the federal government’s health insurance program for the poor under the 2010 healthcare law, but only 28 have chosen to do so. The government will initially cover the full cost of those who are newly eligible, but that support eventually scales back to 90 percent.
Tennessee was seen as potentially the next Republican-led state to expand Medicaid. But only three of the 10 Republicans on the committee voted for Haslam’s plan, which he called Insure Tennessee. It would have required participants to help pay for their care through premium and co-pay contributions and set up health reimbursement accounts to help them cover the out-of-pocket costs.
