TN Gov. Bill Haslam to talk with new U.S. health secretary

photo Gov. Bill Haslam
Arkansas-Tennessee Live Blog

DUNLAP, Tenn. - Gov. Bill Haslam is expressing hope that a planned discussion with the nation's new health secretary during the National Governors Association meeting in Nashville this week might rekindle talks over his plan for Medicaid expansion in Tennessee.

Haslam told reporters following a grant announcement in Dunlap on Tuesday that he's always had hope that something can be worked out. And he says Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell may be able to get "some of the logs unjammed."

Haslam last year declined to accept the Medicaid money without special arrangements for the state.

He met with former HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius twice during a visit to Washington in February and ended up asking her to make a counterproposal to Tennessee's call for using the federal money to subsidize private insurance and promote healthier lifestyles through a series of incentives.

Upcoming Events