TN Gov. Haslam in Process of Looking Into Health Insurance Exchange

Nov 28, 2012 at 12:59 pm by bryan

Gov. Bill Haslam recently announced he will put off a decision on creating a state health insurance exchange outlined in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, but there are strong indications he plans to eventually move forward with a state run exchange, despite the legal prohibition for such a move under the Tennessee Health Freedom Act.

In fact, information compiled by the Tennessee Tenth Amendment Center seems to indicate Haslam planned to set up the state exchange all along. Tennessee accepted more than $9 million in federal funding earmarked for creation of a state exchange over the last two years. Federal dollars began flowing into theVolunteer State under Gov. Phil Bredesen and continued unabated under Haslam. According to informationlisted on the Healthcare.gov website, Tennessee received the following amounts:

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  • September 30, 2010 - $1,000,000 (State Planning Grant under Bredesen)
  • November 29, 2011 - $1,560,220 (Establishment Grant Level One under Haslam)
  • February 22, 2012 - $2,249,945 (Establishment Grant Level One under Haslam)
  • May 16, 2012 - $4,300,000 (Establishment Grant Level One under Haslam)

Tennessee Tenth Amendment Center state chapter coordinator Lesley Swann says the fact that Haslam has continued to not only accept, but actively pursue, federal dollars directed toward creating a state exchange raises some serious questions.

“I can kind of understand former Gov. Phil Bredesen pursuing federal funds for an exploratory grant. But Gov. Bill Haslam has gone above and beyond, begging the federal government not once, not twice, but three times for over $8 million in preparation for the implementation of the health care exchanges,” she said. “This raises the obvious question: did Gov. Haslam intended to violate the Tennessee Health Freedom Act from the moment he signed it, by creating the very health care exchanges the law was intended to protect Tennesseans from? If so, that’s pretty slimy.”

In addition to the political questions surrounding Haslam’s acceptance of federal funding, his apparent trajectory also raises serious legal questions.

“Haslam has a major problem with the implementation of a state-run health care exchange in Tennessee,” Swann said. “Because one of the primary purposes of a state-run exchange under the PPACA is to determine who merits the tax credits and tax penalties associated with the act. It is clearly illegal for him to implement an exchange in Tennessee. Doing so would violate the protections from penalty set forth in the Health Freedom Act - the very Health Freedom Act he signed into law.”
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