State Sens. Todd Gardenhire, right, R-Chattanooga, and Mike Bell, R-Riceville, confer during a Senate Health Committee meeting in Nashville in this photo taken Feb. 4, 2015. Gardenhire and Bell, who are both covered under the state-subsidized health plan, voted against Gov. Bill Haslam’s proposal to extend insurance to 280,000 low-income Tennesseans. NASHVILLE – The head of the Tennessee Democratic Party on Thursday sharply criticized six GOP senators, including Todd Gardenhire of Chattanooga, for killing Republican Gov. Bill Haslam’s plan to use federal funds to provide health coverage to 280,000 low-income Tennesseans, while taking advantage of the state-taxpayer subsidized employee health plan themselves.
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Insure Tennessee failure a cautionary tale, experts say
The six were among seven Republicans who on Wednesday
voted downHaslam’s proposed Insure Tennessee plan to extend Medicaid coverage to people making up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level under President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act.
Three Republicans and a Democrat voted in favor of the pilot project, which would have resulted in $2.8 billion in federal funds. Tennessee hospitals had agreed to pay the state share.