NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP)/WMOT — State Senate Speaker Ron Ramsey says that if fellow Republican Gov. Bill Haslam succeeds in his negotiations with President Barack Obama's administration on a special Tennessee deal for Medicaid expansion, the result could be "sellable" to skeptical state lawmakers.
The biggest problem as Ramsey sees it: He doesn't think the Obama administration is interested in agreeing to Haslam's proposal. The governor is reportedly asking for co-pays and deductibles and to use the federal money to subsidize commercial insurance.
Haslam says he’ll either strike an agreement by the end of the year, or abandon his efforts.
This past year, lawmakers passed a measure requiring the governor to obtain legislative approval before agreeing to Medicaid expansion. Supporters dubbed it the "Stop Obamacare Act."
A Vanderbilt poll released last week says 56 percent of state residents surveyed support expanding Medicaid.
Ramsey also weighs in on new abortion restrictions
The approval of a constitutional amendment to give the state Legislature more power to regulate abortions in Tennessee will likely mean a flood of new proposed restrictions by Ramsey’s Republican colleagues, but the Speaker says he doesn't expect most of them to succeed.
The Blountville Republican says he expects the Legislature to focus on restoring only three laws struck down as part of a 2000 state Supreme Court ruling. Those measures included mandatory counseling, a waiting period and clinic regulations. The court rolled back the restrictions saying they violated a woman's fundamental right to privacy.
Ramsey says he opposes a proposal to require women seeking abortions to undergo an ultrasound between one and three days before the procedure.