The latest Affordable Care Act repeal-and-replace proposal is “a home run for Tennessee,” Gov. Bill Haslam, R-Tenn., said Wednesday.
Haslam, who testified this month before a Senate health panel considering changes to Obamacare, said Tennessee should end up with more money and more choices under the plan from U.S. Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Bill Cassidy, R-La. The Trump administration and GOP leaders are backing the plan.
Though other governors and Tennessee hospitals oppose the measure, Haslam told reporters Wednesday in Chattanooga the Graham-Cassidy bill will reallocate federal health care dollars in a way that boosts Tennessee’s share.
“We would take all of the money from the Affordable Care Act and reapportion it on a per-capita basis to all of the states. Because Tennessee didn’t take any of the Medicaid expansion money [from Obamacare], we’ll actually probably bring in about five times as much money out of the Affordable Care Act as we would before,” Haslam said after a speech to the Chattanooga Area Convention and Visitors Bureau.
“It’s flat-out good for Tennessee,” said Haslam, who earlier this week joined 14 fellow GOP governors in a letter supporting the legislation.