NASHVILLE — After watching his Insure Tennessee plan belly-flop in last month’s special session, Republican Gov. Bill Haslam says he’s encouraged that a version now being pushed by a bipartisan group of lawmakers cleared a major hurdle this week.
“We still have a very difficult path, but that doesn’t mean we’re giving up at all,” Haslam told reporters Thursday. “One of our hopes is that the more chance this has for discussion, the more some of the objections and questions that people had can be answered.”
In a 6-2 vote Wednesday night, the Senate Health and Welfare Committee approved a resolution allowing Haslam to proceed with his proposal. He is seeking to use federal funds to extend Medicaid coverage to an estimated 280,000 low-income Tennesseans.
Sen. Bo Watson, R-Hixson, voted against the proposal in subcommittee and was one of the no votes in the full committee. Watson declined to discuss his reasoning Thursday but said he will talk about it later.
Watson will get another vote Tuesday in the Senate Commerce Committee, whose nine members include a number of Insure Tennessee critics.