Haslam releases details of plan to help low-income Tennesseans get health coverage

Gov. Bill Haslam announces his proposal to expand Medicaid in Tennessee during a news conference at the state Capitol in Nashville on Monday. The Republican governor said he will call the state Legislature into special session to take up the proposal that would make Tennessee the 28th state plus Washington, D.C., to expand Medicaid under President Barack Obama's health care law.
Gov. Bill Haslam announces his proposal to expand Medicaid in Tennessee during a news conference at the state Capitol in Nashville on Monday. The Republican governor said he will call the state Legislature into special session to take up the proposal that would make Tennessee the 28th state plus Washington, D.C., to expand Medicaid under President Barack Obama's health care law.

Gov. Bill Haslam's administration has released its detailed plan to expand the state's Medicaid program under what the governor calls "market-driven" reforms that would help more than 200,000 low-income Tennesseans get health coverage.

"There are few challenges facing us today as great as those presented by our broken health care system," Haslam said. "The Insure Tennessee plan is a conservative approach that introduces market principles to Medicaid, provides health care coverage to more Tennesseans at no additional cost to taxpayers, and leverages a payment reform initiative that is working to control health care costs and improve the quality of care. I believe this plan is a critical first step to fundamentally changing health care in Tennessee."

One part of the two-pronged plan would provide vouchers to help workers pay for company-sponsored health insurance; the other would cover insurance costs but would require premiums and co-pays and include incentives for healthy behavior, such as losing weight or stopping smoking.

In a news release, Haslam spokesman David Smith said the plan would cover uninsured Tennesseans earning less than 138 percent of the federal poverty level, valued at slightly over $16,000 a year for an individual and $27,000 for a family of three.

"Five key areas of the governor's plan include: a fiscally sound and sustainable program; providing two new private market choices for Tennesseans; shifting the delivery model and payment of health care in Tennessee from fee-for-service to outcomes based; incentivizing Tennesseans to be more engaged and to take more personal responsibility in their health; and preparing participants for eventual transition to commercial health coverage," the release stated.

The proposal will have to pass muster with the federal Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the Tennessee General Assembly. Haslam is expected to call a special session in February for lawmakers to consider the plan.

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