NASHVILLE – Republican House Speaker Beth Harwell today announced the creation of a task force she hopes will come up with ways to improve access to health care in the wake of last year’s failure of Gov. Bill Haslam’s proposed Insure Tennessee proposal.
The Nashville speaker, who is under fire for refusing to back Haslam’s plan to extend Medicaid coverage to some 280,000 through use of federal dollars, made the announcement with Haslam, a fellow Republican, standing by her side.
Harwell named four Republican House members to the task force, immediately drawing criticism from legislative Democrats for not including them. They also raised questions whether the task force was a ploy for Harwell to get past her 2016 election.
Meanwhile, Republican Senate Speaker Ron Ramsey appears to be showing little interest in having senators participate.
Harwell said she is speaking with Vanderbilt University health experts after Senate panels twice rejected Haslam’s Insure Tennessee proposal, which sought to use federal funds made available under President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act, widely known as Obamacare.