Tennessee Bypasses Federal High-Risk Pool

Press Release

Tennessee is one of 17 states pushing back against a federal government takeover of health care. The state opted out of a temporary high-risk pool program that is part of the health care reform bill that President Obama signed in March. Tennessee already offers its own high-risk pool to those who are otherwise unable to buy private insurance due to preexisting conditions.
"States must opt out of the high-risk pools to protect their own financial futures from the long arm of the federal government," said Congressman Zach Wamp. "Tennessee has to balance its budget each year, and is already having to make tough decisions to meet its obligations. It would be irresponsible to add a new federally imposed, fiscal obligation for a temporary program when we already have a high-risk pool for our residents."

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services set aside $5 billion for these pools until January 1, 2014, but the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid estimate that the funding is unlikely to last until then. States fear that the costs of running the pool will fall to them when the federal funds run out.

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