Monday, December 15, 2014
With Hospitals Under Stress, Tennessee’s Governor Pursues Medicaid Expansion
Tennessee's governor wants to expand medicaid, a move that is very difficult and hard to do in today's political climate, especially in a red state such as Tennessee...
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I support Haslam's efforts to expand Medicaid to low income families in Tennessee. I definitely agree that it's going to be difficult in such a conservative area, but if the governor is continuously working towards this goal, I believe he can eventually achieve it; especially since the tax dollars would be returned to the state, and the Tennessee Hospital Association agreed to pay expansion costs beyond what the federal government covers. It's great to know that multiple republicans have said they support Haslam.
ReplyDeleteIt's great how officials in Tennessee are supporting Haslam's efforts to give low income families greater access to Medicaid. Although it's a little surprising that a state such as Tennessee would want to expand Medicaid, I think that it will help many families get the health care they need.
ReplyDeleteI have mixed reactions to this. I love that the Tennessee government is working not only to make healthcare more accessible to its citizens, but even to promote healthy behaviors by offering monetary benefits for doing routine health screenings and getting vaccines, etc. In response to what Emmanuel said in his blurb: Yes, this won't be easy to do. Many people oppose it and the funds are indeed limited, but if the health and well being of US residents isn't an important enough cause to spend money on, what is?
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with Antonella's last sentence!! The US always talks a big talk, but it's hard to prove we're the super amazing country everyone says we are when we can't even choose to spend a little more money to help other US citizens. I'm really glad Tennessee officials are supporting these efforts, and I think it shows a bit of progress there, too. Slowly but surely, but definitely a bit of progress.
ReplyDeleteWhile I definitely agree it will be hard to pass a medicaid expansion plan in a far right state, Haslam's decision to propose it as a two year pilot program was definitely the right move. Conservative legislators will definitely be more likely to pass it if they know it is only a pilot program. Also, while providing extra money to people for getting preventative screening incurs a slight upfront cost, it avoids a steep long term cost. By catching health issues early on, the government may end up saving money even after expanding sections of the medicaid plan.
ReplyDeleteI was surprised to read that not only Tennessee is pushing for expansion, but nine other republican lead states have already expanded medicaid as well. The deal will benefit the state economically and continue to follow its conservative principles. And, even better, it will also benefit the health of many low income citizens. I definitely feel that this proposed expansion would be a win-win situation.
ReplyDeleteI think it's great that Tennessee is pushing this plan. And it's even better that nine red states have already expanded medicaid and Tennessee would make number ten. I do believe this is a step in a good direction.
ReplyDeleteI think Haslam's effort to push for Medicaid expansion in Tennessee is a sign that, while many Republicans continue to be opposed to the Affordable Care Act, that they will not let that stop them from helping the people of their states. The fact that nine red states have already expanded Medicaid or are going to is a further sign of this. Republican governors recognize that expanding Medicaid will help the low income citizens in their states and thus it is something they should not oppose. It is good that they are trying to negotiate it so that they can maintain their conservative principles while getting it passed by their state legislatures. In the end, all that matters is helping people even if it means agreeing to something that is opposed by many members of your own party.
ReplyDeleteIt's great that Tennessee is heavily considering this expansion of medicaid to low income citizens, but as Ms. Johnson seems to suggest in her quote, the state really has no other choice. I guess it's nice to see that partisanship is not getting in the way of halting the closing of hospitals anymore, but still this is something that I already hope all politicians would do: consider the well-being of their constituents before their party allegiance. Nevertheless, it is encouraging to see that Tennessee would be the tenth state with Republican leadership to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act.
ReplyDelete