Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam (R) announced Monday his state will not build and operate a health insurance exchange, opting instead for a federally-run option.
"Our decision is whether the state or federal government should run (the exchange), and the deadline for that decision is Friday," Gov. Haslam said in a statement.
"I've said that I think Tennessee could run a state exchange cheaper and better, and my natural inclination is to keep the federal government out of our business as much as possible," he said, "[But] the Obama administration has set an aggressive timeline to implement exchanges, while there is still a lot of uncertainty about how the process will actually work."
Although the governor made clear he opposes the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which establishes the exchanges, he said, "If this were a political decision, it would've been easy, and I would've made it a long time ago."
"Our decision is whether the state or federal government should run (the exchange), and the deadline for that decision is Friday," Gov. Haslam said in a statement.
"I've said that I think Tennessee could run a state exchange cheaper and better, and my natural inclination is to keep the federal government out of our business as much as possible," he said, "[But] the Obama administration has set an aggressive timeline to implement exchanges, while there is still a lot of uncertainty about how the process will actually work."
Although the governor made clear he opposes the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which establishes the exchanges, he said, "If this were a political decision, it would've been easy, and I would've made it a long time ago."
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