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Gov. Haslam Reaches Medicaid Deal in Tennessee

Gov. Bill Haslam announced Monday that he has reached a deal with federal officials to expand Medicaid in Tennessee after months of discussions.

The Republican's administration is touting it as an alternative deal with federal officials. The program, dubbed Insure Tennessee, would provide coverage for the state's uninsured without creating new taxes for Tennesseans.

Haslam announced at a news conference at the state Capitol that the state would offer a voucher to purchase insurance in the private market, according to statement from the governor's office and a news conference.

Health care advocates had heavily criticized the Republican governor for refusing last year to agree to $1.4 billion in federal funds to cover about 180,000 uninsured Tennesseans under the terms the money was offered.
Tennessee would become the 28th state plus Washington, D.C., to expand Medicaid under President Barack Obama's health care law, and the 10th initiated by a Republican governor.

Under the two-year pilot program, the Tennessee Hospital Association will cover any additional costs to the state. Haslam said the program will automatically terminate if either federal funding or support from hospitals "changes in anyway."

Haslam said he plans to call a special session for lawmakers to take up the plan early next year.

"After 17 months of hard work, we will be presenting a plan to the General Assembly next year that addresses health outcomes and costs," Haslam said.

A Vanderbilt poll released this month said 56 percent supported expanding Medicaid for low-income residents.

Haslam has been trying to get federal officials to approve an alternative plan, one that would be acceptable both to Washington and to largely skeptical Tennessee lawmakers, who must approve any deal under a law passed earlier this year. He said the GOP states that expanded Medicaid were part of the conversations with Washington.

The nine Republican-governed states that have expanded Medicaid are Arizona, Iowa, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio and Pennsylvania.

Last month, Wyoming, which has a Republican governor, released a plan to expand Medicaid. The proposal, which still has to win federal and state legislative approval, would provide Medicaid coverage to an additional 17,600 low-income people, according to the state's health department.

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