Lawmakers downplay Obama's impact on Insure Tennessee

The specific issues, bills or lawmakers might change, but if there's any constant within the Republican caucuses in the Tennessee House and Senate, it's this: They aren't big fans of President Barack Obama.

At the same time, Democrats and supporters of Gov. Bill Haslam's controversial Insure Tennessee plan are using the president's visit Wednesday to a Nashville elementary school as their latest rallying cry to push for Haslam's health insurance plan.

Typically, a great way to ensure the GOP supermajority in the Tennessee General Assembly opposes a measure is to prominently announce Obama supports it. But Republican and Democrat lawmakers tried Monday to downplay any negative effects the president's visit might have on Insure Tennessee's chances at the statehouse.

"Politics shouldn't rule here. It should be what's right for Tennessee. Let's all forget politics for a while and just do what's right for our state," U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper, D-Tenn, said Monday after a rally for Insure Tennessee.

Cooper argued opponents in the legislature "sabotaged" the plan and it's "crazy" House lawmakers never voted on the plan itself. But four different state Senate committees voted on the proposal, killing it both during a special and regular legislative session.

Don't expect politicians, Republican or Democrat, to forget politics. In comments about the president's visit, several Tennessee Republicans clearly didn't, namely Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey, R-Blountville, and Tennessee Republican Party Chairman Ryan Haynes.

"I welcome President Obama to Nashville. This visit can only serve to draw Tennessee's focus on the overwhelming need for a new president," Ramsey said in a statement blasting the Affordable Care Act.

"Obamacare needs to be repealed and replaced. A true solution can only be achieved though a block grant so reform can reach the entire Medicaid-eligible population. The states need the freedom to handle this issue."

Haynes took politics a step further. Instead of directly tying the president's visit to Insure Tennessee, Haynes offered the type of campaign rhetoric that will only become more common as the 2016 presidential election draws nearer.

"Instead of another campaign speech, we need a president that is willing to work with Congress to fix (the Affordable Care Act) and the American people will make that clear when we send a Republican to the White House in 2016," Haynes said in a prepared statement.

"And that is why Hillary Clinton is so dangerous. She'll just continue these harmful policies..."

As soon as he announced Insure Tennessee, Haslam did what he could to argue his case for why his plan and traditional Medicaid expansion, made possible through the president's Affordable Care Act, were different and unrelated.

While the funding for Insure Tennessee is the same money typically offered for traditional Medicaid expansion, the specifics of the plan are different than plans in many of the states that have simply expanded Medicaid eligibility.

Haslam and supporters have touted the differences, arguing there are incentives and lockout provisions based in conservative ideology that make the plan Tennessee-specific.

State Sen. Richard Briggs, R-Knoxville, proposed some of those provisions. As one of the few Republicans in the General Assembly to publicly support Insure Tennessee, he acknowledged some of his GOP colleagues tried to tie the plan to the president. But he argued Monday he and others have answered their policy questions, so the president's trip shouldn't sway them either way.

"I don't think the president coming here is going to make much difference with my Republican colleagues," Briggs said. "What will make a difference is if ordinary Tennesseans this summer are telling them that this is something that is good for the state and what they want."

His comments mirror those of House Speaker Beth Harwell. The Nashville Republican didn't publicly support or oppose Haslam's plan as it made its way through the statehouse, but after session she told The Tennessean there was never enough support in her caucus for the proposal.

She, too, doesn't think Obama's trip will affect that support.

"It is always an honor for the President of the United States to visit our state. In my experience, however, members are influenced more heavily by their constituents' thoughts and input on issues facing the state," Harwell said in a prepared statement.

State Sen. Jeff Yarbro and Rep. John Ray Clemmons, both Nashville Democrats, said they're honored for the president to come to Tennessee. They said Monday they don't think his trip will in any way hurt the likelihood of finding a path to passage for Insure Tennessee.

"Everyone is for Insure Tennessee except the legislature, and I think the president's visit will demonstrate that," Yarbro said, referencing polls from Vanderbilt University and Haslam that have shown some public support for the plan.

"If people want to make policy decisions for Tennessee based on a dislike of the president, we've got bigger problems. If we're going to focus on actually doing what's right for Tennessee, I think people will look at the merits of the proposal and will pass this thing."

The evidence thus far has shown lawmakers looking at the proposal won't pass Insure Tennessee.

And although many GOP lawmakers may have their minds made up against the plan, another easy way to tie the proposal to Obama surely won't help Haslam and advocates get the support they need for Insure Tennessee to become law any time soon.

Reach Dave Boucher at 615-259-8892 and on Twitter @Dave_Boucher1.