NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Republican Gov. Bill Haslam's Insure Tennessee proposal is up for a key vote in the Senate Commerce Committee on Tuesday.
The proposal to extend health coverage to 280,000 low-income Tennesseans was defeated in a special legislative session last month. But the measure was resurrected on a 6-2 vote in the Senate Health Committee last week.
Prospects for the measure appear far less optimistic in the commerce panel, though Haslam has been trying to make his case with individual committee members.
Under the two-year pilot program, hospitals would cover the $74 million state share to draw down $2.8 billion in federal Medicaid funds. Many opponents of the measure have been unable to overcome their trepidation about voting for a program tied to President Barack Obama's health care law.