Tennessee Governor Bill HaslamNASHVILLE — Gov. Bill Haslam said he is holding firm to his proposed limited school-voucher plan and put fellow Republicans in the Senate on notice Monday that if they want to go beyond that, “they should run their own bill.”
Haslam also told reporters he expects to make his final decision soon on whether to recommend Tennessee expand its Medicaid program, TennCare, to an estimated 181,000 low-income people under the federal Affordable Care Act.
And on another health care front, Haslam voiced strong concerns about a bill moving in the House that would bar state-licensed insurers such as Chattanooga-based BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee from participating in the federally run health insurance exchanges under Obamacare.
Haslam said his voucher plan is the result of recommendations from a yearlong task force, headed by Commissioner of Education Kevin Huffman.
“It’s not like we’re people who say it’s just our way or the highway, the Legislature shouldn’t have input,” Haslam said. “But on this issue we really have worked hard to say this is where we really think the right place is. … We think if somebody thinks something different, they should run their own bill.”