Democratic leader charges Harwell Medicaid-work requirement ‘political stunt’ for votes in governor’s race
"Speaker Harwell could not come up with the cash she needed to fund the work-requirement Medicaid bill, so Speaker Harwell and the
"We don't just make up fairy tales to get funding," he added.
Harwell and Rep.
But under a new amendment, the Haslam administration also is directed to seek simultaneous approval from the
Legislative fiscal analysts' verdict on the original bill was that
But now, the state's
President
In issuing a fiscal note, the
"It is unknown to what extent the federal government will allow the use of TANF or other federal funds to effectuate the requirements agreed to by TennCare and CMS," the analysis reads.
Noting that "it is assumed that" officials with TennCare, the state's Medicaid program, would negotiate and implement a waiver that meets both CMS and HHS requirements "so that TANF and federal funding will be used to implement the program."
It also says "future state funds necessary to administer the program are unknown and are dependent on the approved waiver."
Seizing on the uses of "unknown" impact on the state in the fiscal note, Stewart said the Tennessee Constitution requires that any law resulting in expenditure of state funds "shall be null and void unless, during the session in which the act receives final passage, an appropriation is made for the estimated first year's funding."
It thus requires "that you go get money now, not later, not from some fantasy game magically conjured up," Stewart said.
He charged that Harwell, who is running for the
In this case, the state is asking for two waivers. The Trump administration is open to Medicaid work requirements, having already approved them for at least two states. Whether the administration would be open to the second waiver involving funds frtom TANF, the welfare program, remains unclear.
The bill does say
Apparently that was good enough for the
Harwell's spokeswoman,
She noted that TennCare originally estimated that case work and supportive services "would be the largest expense in implementing a work requirement, so it only makes sense to leverage the federal dollars that are already available to us for that purpose."
The bill and the waiver's goal, Owen said, "is to move Tennesseans out of poverty, and education and employment are two of the biggest factors in doing so."
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