NASHVILLE – Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee says he believes opposition to his Medicaid block grant proposal during two public meetings earlier this week stems from misinformation or failing to take sufficient time to understand what he’s trying to achieve.
“And there’s legitimate concern about that,” the Republican governor told reporters Thursday.
Emphasizing “we want people to fully understand this,” Lee said “that’s why we’ve added a couple more cities, that’s why there’s an online portal for understanding.”
Lee’s comments came after two public hearings in Nashville and Knoxville on Tuesday and Wednesday on his Medicaid waiver request to the Trump administration. He is seeking federal permission to waive many rules regarding operations and expenditures in TennCare, the state’s $12.1 billion Medicaid health insurance program for an estimated 1.4 million low-income children, their adult caretakers, seniors and the disabled.
The governor is also seeking to convert some $7.9 billion in federal funding into an annual lump sum known as a block grant. With the Trump administration pushing block grants as a way of saving money on Medicaid, Lee is hoping to wrest additional power to control costs as well as more funding from Uncle Sam through a proposed share of cost savings.