Gov. Bill Haslam said Tuesday that “two immediate decisions” state lawmakers face next year are whether to expand TennCare and also whether to form a state-run health insurance exchange, reports the Kingsport Times-News.
“We haven’t gotten the answers from the federal government. … They haven’t told us how it will work,” Haslam, a Republican, said of those decisions after addressing about 175 business and government leaders at a Kingsport Area Chamber of Commerce luncheon.
Both decisions are related to the federal health care reform law — also known as the Affordable Care Act — that could stand intact or be reshaped depending on the November presidential and congressional elections.
TennCare is the state’s $8 billion federally supported Medicaid program for low-income Tennesseans. The health care reform law calls for either the state or federal government to run an exchange creating a new marketplace in health insurance.
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Note: As previously posted, two Republican legislators are planning to file a bill prohibiting expansion of TennCare despite the governor’s wait-and-see approach. The Commercial Appeal has a story today on the push by Sen. Brian Kelsey and a soon-to-be-elected GOP representative.