NASHVILLE -- A health advocacy group is estimating that at least 18,873 or 5.6 percent of Hamilton County residents would benefit from Gov. Bill Haslam's proposed Insure Tennessee plan for low-income Tennesseans
The Tennessee Health Care Coalition says that's based on its analysis of 2010 U.S. Census Bureau data and U.S. Bureau of Labor statistics.
The group's release comes as a legislative resolution giving Haslam the go-ahead to seek a waiver of federal Medicaid rules to implement the program comes up in House and Senate committees this week.
Advocates are trying to resurrect the resolution in the regular legislative session after it died Feb. 11 in a special Senate Health Committee during a special session called by Haslam to consider his Insure Tennessee plan to cover an estimated 280,000 low-income Tennesseans.
The analysis looked at Hamilton Countians who fall into a so-called "coverage gap," earning less than the federal poverty level -- $16,100 for an individual and $27,300 for a family of three.
"The huge positive affect of ensuring 5.61 percent of a population has new access to health care can't be overstated," said Walter Davis, executive director of the Tennessee Health Care Campaign. "Not only will they have access to the care they need but it will reduce the risk of personal bankruptcy due to health care expenses at the same time that it brings money and jobs into the local economy."
Later today, a group of proponents including ministers and health care providers plan a state Capitol news conference in support of the resolution.