The stars were aligned for Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam to expand Medicaid in his state to 280,000 low-income Tennesseans: "Hospitals and chambers of commerce endorsed the plan. A recent poll showed Haslam had an 86 percent approval rating among Republicans in the state, and he has a GOP supermajority in the House and Senate." But the plan died this week after a state Senate committee voted the plan down, The Tennessean's Dave Boucher reports. Haslam said that he didn't realize how deeply Republican legislators had issues with the federal government: '"I think this whole sense of distrust of the federal government. Well, I could've told you that was, that our legislature felt that way (before the special session). It was so much bigger than I thought.'"
Lawyer and Legal Journalist
