Haslam pushes ahead for Medicaid expansion

Gov. Bill Haslam says he’s still in talks over finding a way to expand Medicaid in Tennessee despite pushback from fellow Republicans in the state legislature.

The governor said in a conference call with reporters Thursday that he wants to find a solution that is acceptable both to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and to largely skeptical lawmakers in Tennessee, who must approve any deal under a law passed earlier this year.

Haslam said that he had meetings on the subject in Washington as recently as two weeks ago and that TennCare officials have been involved in ongoing discussions on the issue.

“We’re doing our best to push forward to see if we can find something that works so that we can bring it back to the legislature in time for them to fully consider it,” Haslam said.

Haslam’s suggestion last month that a deal could be in the works brought swift criticism from Republicans in the legislature, including Senate Majority Leader Mark Norris, who said it appeared the governor was “not very serious” about the proposal because he hadn’t consulted with the General Assembly.

Haslam shrugged off Norris’ suggestion. “I can assure you we’ve been very serious about it, or we would have thrown in the towel a long time ago,” he said.

Lawmakers this year enacted legislation supporters called the “Stop Obamacare Act” that requires the governor to get their OK on any deal on Medicaid expansion.

Republican Senate Judiciary Chairman Brian Kelsey of Germantown, a main sponsor of the bill, said Friday that the measure’s overwhelming passage shows that lawmakers aren’t interested in any deal.

“I don’t see any way possible that the people’s representatives will vote to allow Obamacare and Medicaid expansion in Tennessee,” he said.

Pennsylvania in August became the 27th state to expand Medicaid under the federal health care law, and the ninth run by a Republican governor.

Under that deal crafted by Gov. Tom Corbett’s administration, private insurers can administer Medicaid-funded coverage that adheres to Medicaid’s existing rules. Corbett, who faces a tough re-election bid this November, had been under pressure from hospitals, labor unions, the AARP and advocates for the poor to accept the Medicaid expansion money, which became available Jan. 1.

Haslam, by contrast, faces no serious opposition in his bid for a second term in November.