Tenn. governor may talk Medicaid with new HHS chief

[steve2470]

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2014/07/12/tenn-governor-may-talk-medicaid-with-new-hhs-chief/12580585/

NASHVILLE — Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam will get a chance to reopen talks with the federal government over expanding the state's Medicaid program when he sits down Sunday with the Department of Health and Human Services' new leader.

The Republican governor and Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell are scheduled to meet for the first time since Burwell replaced Secretary Kathleen Sebelius last month. The closed-door meeting will take place on the final day of the National Governors Association's summer conference in Nashville.

The meeting comes as Haslam faces mounting criticism for not agreeing to offer TennCare, the state's Medicaid program, to more adults as called for under the 2010 Affordable Care Act. Haslam and Burwell also will sit down a day before a deadline for the state to respond to a stinging letter from federal Medicaid director Cindy Mann that said Tennessee is failing to meet the law's requirements.

"I wouldn't call it a totally new start," he said. "But I think when you have a new, key player it matters to sit down."

[packman]

1. Nothing like recognizing

that your ideology is getting in the way of votes. I gotta give him points for that-the asshole.