Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Insure Tennessee's Push For Medicaid Expansion Reinvigorated By Supreme Court Decision
Fresh off last week's U.S. Supreme Court ruling that upheld one key provision of the federal Affordable Care Act, supporters of Gov. Bill Haslam's failed Insure Tennessee plan are renewing their push to pass the Medicaid expansion to an estimated 280,000 low-income Tennesseans. Backers of the plan, including state Sen. Richard Briggs, R-Knoxville, U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper, D-Tenn., business leaders and others filled an auditorium at St. Thomas Midtown Hospital in Nashville on Monday for a news conference. ... Republican-controlled Senate committees twice rejected Haslam's Insure Tennessee plan last session. Some lawmakers' objections included the uncertainty of the health insurance exchange issue. (Sher, 6/29)
Nothing about the most controversial health insurance proposal facing Tennessee has changed in the months since lawmakers declined to support it earlier this year. But Insure Tennessee advocates are optimistic a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling and upcoming presidential visit could continue to change the environment that's shaped debate on Gov. Bill Haslam's plan. (Boucher, 6/29)
A patient came to Siloam Family Health Center with a two-day-old gunshot wound to the abdomen. The man hadn't been to the emergency room for two reasons, said Dr. Morgan Wills, president and CEO of the clinic. A native of Vietnam, the wounded man was concerned about someone not speaking his language, and he wanted to go somewhere offering affordable care. (Fletcher, 6/29)
After the law survived its latest potentially devastating legal challenge, Medicaid expansion will be a legacy-defining issue for the president during his last 18 months, one that will determine whether Obamacare achieves its full, desired impact. But how far can鈥攁nd will鈥攈is administration go to achieve that goal? ... The administration has made ample use of that carrot as it has negotiated with GOP-led states to expand Medicaid. But it also is trying the stick, fighting with Florida this year over Medicaid expansion and federal funding for the uninsured while warning Texas that it could do the same there next year. ... But the agency has its limits. It has denied state requests to require people below the poverty line to pay premiums, as well as to limit benefits packages. One redline for the administration is requiring Medicaid enrollees to work or look for work. (Scott, 6/29)
