Gov. Haslam urges Republicans to 'get beyond politics' on Insure Tennessee

NASHVILLE -- As Gov. Bill Haslam on Monday urged fellow Republicans to "get beyond politics" when considering his Insure Tennessee proposal today, 40-year-old Traci Foster said she has a more personal message for lawmakers.

"I'm going to ask them please, let it go and be voted on," said Foster, noting she has bladder cancer and no insurance, at a state Capitol news conference. "We really need this. There's people begging for help."

Rep. Todd Gardenhire talks about his immigration legislation during the Times Free Press sponsored Legislative Roundtable on Jan. 06, 2015

The Republican-dominated Senate Commerce Committee is scheduled to vote this afternoon on a bipartisan resolution that seeks to resurrect Haslam's proposal to use federal Medicaid dollars to extend health coverage to an estimated 280,000 low-income Tennesseans.

Members of the nine-member committee include local Republican Sens. Bo Watson and Todd Gardenhire.

Similar legislation failed Feb. 4 in a special Senate Health Committee during a special session called by Haslam to consider what he calls a "market driven" plan using funds provided under the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare.

An analysis done by the Tennessee Health Care Coalition, one of several advocacy groups supporting Insure Tennessee, estimates 18,873 people, or 5.6 percent of Hamilton County's population, would be eligible for the coverage. People earning less than the federal poverty level -- $16,100 for an individual and $27,300 for a family of three -- would qualify. The analysis was based on U.S. Census Bureau data and U.S. Bureau of Labor statistics.

"We've known all along this would be tough," Haslam told reporters earlier Monday, The Associated Press reported. "But I think what we're saying is: 'Give us a full hearing, and listen to the real arguments instead of some of the political arguments people are making.'"

The resolution to let Haslam proceed with a federal waiver to implement a two-year pilot project failed on a 7-4 vote last month with Gardenhire and Sen. Mike Bell, R-Riceville, among those voting no.

But last week, the revived bipartisan version passed the Senate Health Committee on a 6-2 vote. Watson was among those voting no.

Even if it clears today's vote, it will still face more hurdles in the Senate and House. It is scheduled to go before the House Insurance and banking subcommittee Wednesday.

Opponents include Americans for Prosperity-Tennessee and the Beacon Center of Tennessee, a liberatarian think tank and advocacy group. Last week, AFP-Tennessee began running radio ads opposing the plan yet again.

Shortly after the bill failed in the special session the first time around, advocacy groups and Democrats began working to bring it back. Gardenhire became a repeated target of protests in Chattanooga.

"Let's let Dr. Death aka Gardenhire know that he is responsible for people dying!!!" states a forwarded Feb. 5 email from Hamilton County Democratic Party Chairman Terry Lee, shared by Gardenhire with the Times Free Press.

The federal government would provide the lion's share of funding for the plan. Tennessee hospitals have volunteered to provide the state's share of $74 million for the two-year pilot project. That would draw $2.8 billion in federal funds over the same period.

By 2020, the state's costs would rise to $200 million, but hospitals have agreed to provide that as well through an extension of the existing hospital assessment.

But Gardenhire, Bell and other Republicans question the actual costs as well as whether Haslam would end the pilot project after two years if it proved unworkable. Gardenhire has also cited the lack of a legal commitment by hospitals, as well as a Vanderbilt University Medicaid expert and Affordable Health Care critic who suggested they reject the measure and give Haslam an opportunity to strike an even better deal with the Obama administration.

Haslam has previously acknowledged it's hard for his fellow Republicans to support the plan, noting virtually every one of them has campaigned against "Obamacare" at some point.

The Associated Press points out that all eight Republicans on the Senate Commerce Committee, including Watson and Gardenhire, have shown little hesitation in the past when approving the annual hospital assessment, which has raised $900 million to draw down $1.67 billion in federal funds for TennCare, the state's Medicaid program.

Haslam told reporters "it's hard on this one to get past the politics" on Obamacare. "That being said, I think people do get it and understand how important it is."

Later on Monday, advocates held their news conference.

" ... The fight to bring a billion dollars in federal funds to our state and cover 280,000 Tennessee comes to a head tomorrow," said Michele Johnson, executive director of the Tennesseans Justice Center. "We want every Tennessean to be here. We want them to come here as the Commerce Committee determines whether or not to kill Insure Tennessee."

A United Methodist minister, physician and nurse participated, as did Foster. All urged people who would benefit as well as health care workers and ministers to flood Legislative Plaza in support. Buses and vans from across the state, including Chattanooga, have been chartered, advocates said.

Foster, a mother of two, said she had worked for years in the home health and nursing home fields. Then she was diagnosed with bladder cancer and lost her ability to work and has no coverage. She said when the pain becomes unbearable, she goes to a hospital and they tell her she needs surgery. But all they give her is a pain killer, Foster said.

"They told me if I had it in my breast or cervix I could get TennCare, but my cancer is in my bladder," said Foster, a former nursing home and home health worker from Anderson County. "I also have heart disease and severe pro-lapse to where my bladder is actually coming out."

Foster said she is "only one of the nearly 300,000 people who are stuck. I need health insurance but have no options."

Contact Andy Sher at asher@timesfreepress.com or 615-255-0550.