Weak Link Appears: Tennessee's GOP governor caving in to pressure to expand Obamacare

1/14/2015

By Chris Butler | Tennessee Watchdog

NASHVILLE — Tennessee Republican Gov. Bill Haslam, only two months after a landslide re-election, appears willing to give in to pressure to expand Medicaid under Obamacare.

Haslam is calling for a special legislative session, starting Feb. 2, to address the issue.

Forbes and the Washington Times have already offered scorching criticism of Haslam’s plan, known as Insure Tennessee, calling it unworkable and saying taxpayers can’t afford it.

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HASLAM: Gov. Bill Haslam, only two months after a landslide re-election, appears willing to give in to pressure to expand Medicaid under Obamacare.

Haslam spokesman Dave Smith, though, called the plan “a conservative approach that introduces market principles to Medicaid.” He says it would provide expanded health-care coverage at no additional cost to taxpayers.

That’s because, as Forbes describes, Haslam says Tennessee’s hospitals have agreed to cover the state’s share of rising Medicaid costs through a provider tax.

But Forbes and the Florida-based Foundation for Government Accountability don’t find that argument credible, and they say the plan will ultimately burden taxpayers, based on “basic economics.”

Forbes, citing the left-leaning Urban Institute, reports the proposed expansion would cost the state an additional $400 million per year by 2022. Federal taxpayers, Forbes adds, will kick in an extra $3.8 billion.

If the plan proves too costly, state officials — assuming they have the political will — may have to take the program from people who just got onto it.

State Rep. Glen Casada, R-Franklin, said he’s going into the special session with an open mind and certain reservations; he read the Forbes article and it will influence his vote.

“There was a poll that shows that a majority of Tennesseans are for this, but I don’t think they have the big picture.

“They don’t know the costs, and they don’t know that we have to come up with $400 million in a couple of years, and we don’t have that money. If the questions were asked in that context, then I think you’d find the numbers switched to against expanding Medicaid in the state.”

Casada said he and other legislators can probably wrap up the special session in less than a week.

Justin Owen, president of the Nashville-based Beacon Center of Tennessee, a free market think tank that opposes Haslam’s plan, said he and his staff will work to ensure legislators don’t go along.

Photo by Chris Butler

Justin Owen

“A week is an extraordinary time crunch when you are talking about billions and billions of dollars in expanding a program to 200,000 more Tennesseans,” Owen said.

“You need more than a week to talk about it. I think there will be more than a week of debates.”

Owen told Tennessee Watchdog that introducing a new entitlement to people and then taking it away  is immoral.

But will a supermajority GOP Legislature go along with what Haslam wants now?

“It’ll be very close,” Owen said.

“It’ll come down to Republicans and Republicans deciding whether to stick to principles we’ve advocated for smaller government and lower taxes.”

Owen said he believes the hospital industry is pressuring Haslam.

“I think the governor has tried very hard to strike that middle ground between what the Obama administration will approve and what our General Assembly will pass, and I don’t envy him being in that position.

In a statement, the Foundation for Government Accountability says federal taxpayers will actually spend an additional $22.5 billion over the next decade if Haslam’s plan goes forward.

“Hospital fees will ultimately be passed on to Tennessee consumers in the form of higher medical costs,” the statement read.

Photo courtesy of Tennessee General Assembly website

State Rep. Glen Casada, R-Franklin

Furthermore, federal law already prohibits states from guaranteeing hospitals will receive their tax dollars back in the form of additional Medicaid spending, as Haslam’s plan calls for.

“In order to generate enough revenue to pay for the state’s share of Obamacare expansion costs, Tennessee hospitals would need their patient revenues to climb to a whopping $27 billion — nearly double what they are today,” the statement says.

Speaking on the governor’s behalf, Smith did not address any of the concerns over Haslam’s plan.

Contact Christopher Butler at chris@tennesseewatchdog.org 

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