Gov. Bill Haslam has been named co-chair of a National Governors Association task force on “health care sustainability” with Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber, a Democrat.
Haslam has rejected Medicaid expansion under the federal Affordable Care Act, also known as “Obama- care,” while Oregon was among the first states to accept Medicaid expansion.
But Haslam is still negotiating with federal officials about possibly accepting expansion, if they go along with his notion of using federal money — more than $1 billion in Tennessee’s case — to buy commercial insurance policies. He says recent talks have been “encouraging: and expects a final result by the end of the summer.
Oregon, meanwhile, is operating its Medicaid program under a federal waiver that includes a departure from fee-for-service payments to health care providers in favor of what are called “outcome-based” payments. That is also part of Haslam’s expansion proposal, which he calls the “Tennessee plan.”
An NGA news release says the task force will review and report on “developing innovative Medicaid programs” and declares that governors “must retain flexibility to implement these measures.”
The news release has quotes from both Haslam and Kitzhaber.
“Right now states are looking to change how they do business in order to more effectively serve their constituents,” Kitzhaber said. “This task force will help states sit down together to figure out what’s working and what isn’t and identify how the federal government can best support these efforts.”
“Governors are working in their states to find ways to cut costs when it comes to health care,” Haslam said. “It is our responsibility to examine every possible option in an effort to make sure promising new initiatives can be fully utilized.”