Tennessee’s Medicaid block grant proposal ‘too extreme’ for even Trump, Sen. Yarbro says
Sen. Akbari: ‘Families deserve a real plan’
NASHVILLE — Tennessee’s Medicaid block grant application has wasted time and resources while hospital closures across the state have increased and families have lost health coverage, Senate Democratic leaders said Thursday.
Today, the Trump administration issued guidance for states to submit Medicaid block grant applications — and the directions stood in stark contrast to the application submitted by Gov. Bill Lee’s administration in December.
“The block grant proposal that they just spent a year of time, attention and effort on looks to be dead on arrival,” Sen. Jeff Yarbro of Nashville said. “Let that sink in, Tennessee’s plan is too extreme to fit in to what the Trump’s administration set out for Medicaid block grants today.”
Learn more about the wide differences between Gov. Bill Lee’s Medicaid block grant application and President Donald Trump’s Medicaid block grant guidance in The Tennessean.
Sen. Raumesh Akbari of Memphis said the state legislature should pivot away from the block grant and start focusing on real health care solutions for families.
“The majority party promoted a risky Medicaid block grant for more than a year, but it was never a serious plan to improve the health of Tennessee families,” Akbari said. “And now even the Trump administration’s guidance suggests it’s too conservative to block grant health coverage for pregnant women, children and low-income parents. Instead of elevating false promises, Memphis families deserve a real plan that expands affordable coverage and health care access to those in need.”
Yarbro says the Trump administration’s block grant guidance signals the need for the state to start over on health care with a year wasted.
“Another job the governor is going to have this week is to set out an agenda on health care that actually makes sense, that might actually improve someone’s health care, because all of the fussing, fighting, hearings and meetings that we’ve done over the last year hasn’t improved the health care of one human being in Tennessee. It hasn’t provided coverage to one more human being in Tennessee,” Yarbro said. “All that work is going to have to start over brand new. That should be disappointing to everyone in this state.”
