NASHVILLE – Republican legislative leaders are eyeing a plan they hope could eventually boost health care coverage to more of Tennessee’s working poor by shifting to a federal block grant system.
But Lt. Gov. Randy McNally, R-Oak Ridge, and top GOP colleagues insist it is in no way an expansion of Tennessee’s existing $12.1 billion Medicaid program, TennCare, under the Affordable Care Act created by former President Barack Obama, which state GOP lawmakers have repeatedly rejected.
Rather, McNally and others see it as a potential follow-up if a bill introduced in the General Assembly passes. Sponsored by Sen. Paul Bailey, R-Sparta, and Rep. Timothy Hill, R-Blountville, the legislation directs Gov. Bill Lee to seek federal approval for waiving existing Medicaid rules.
If successful, it would transform Uncle Sam’s current TennCare funding, through which state expenditures for the existing Medicaid population are now matched on a two- and sometimes three-to-one basis by the federal government, to a federal block grant system with fewer strings attached.
The Bailey/Hill bill also seeks to have federal block grant funding tied to increases in the TennCare population and inflation. Proponents say fewer strings could lead to cost savings.