Haslam backs last-ditch effort to replace Affordable Care Act

Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam speaks during the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee during a hearing to discuss ways to stabilize health insurance markets, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Sept. 7, 2017. ( AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam speaks during the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee during a hearing to discuss ways to stabilize health insurance markets, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Sept. 7, 2017. ( AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

NASHVILLE - Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam is among a group of 15 Republican governors calling on GOP senators to back a last-ditch to repeal the Affordable Care Act.

The letter was sent Tuesday after a bipartisan group of 10 governors fired off a letter to Republican leaders stating their opposition to the legislation.

Haslam and fellow Republicans say in their letter that the proposal from U.S. Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Bill Cassidy of Louisiana represents the "last, best hope" to replace Obamacare.

Among other provisions, it would turn the Medicaid program for the poor and disabled from an open-ended entitlement program into block grants.

Haslam explained his support in a separate statement that "our nation's current health care path is not sustainable – both in its cost and in its one size fits all approach.

"I support a plan that responsibly and adequately funds block grants to states and provides maximum flexibility and control to states," Haslam added. "The Graham-Cassidy legislation can meet both of these provisions and benefit Tennesseans by returning more of Tennesseans' taxpayer dollars to the state to serve the health care needs of our citizens."

Haslam recently testified before U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee as Alexander unsuccessfully sought a bipartisan short-term fix for the ACA. Earlier, a GOP bill containing much of the Graham-Cassidy bill flopped in the GOP-run Senate.

Meanwhile, U.S. Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., is coming under fire from Democrats and others due to his support for the Graham-Cassidy bill.

"Senator Corker's latest health care proposal will gut coverage for pre-existing conditions - breaking his promise to protect these vital services and spiking costs for hardworking families," charged David Bergstein of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee in a news release today.

"If Senator Corker has his way," Bergstein added, "Tennessee's working families could lose coverage for everything from cancer treatment to pregnancy services, and in 2018 voters will hold him accountable for his toxic and expensive agenda."

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