A possible expansion of Medicaid will be discussed at an Anderson County Interagency Coalition meeting next week.
Representatives of all health and social service providers in Anderson County are invited to attend, a press release said.
The meeting will be held at the Anderson County Health Department from noon to 1 p.m. Wednesday.
Lamar Alexander
Bob Corker
U.S. senators Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker, both Tennessee Republicans, on Thursday voted against H.R. 325, the House-passed debt limit bill, and urged Congress to focus on reforming Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security, a press release said.
“I voted against this bill because it raises the debt ceiling without taking steps to reduce the debt,” Alexander said. “Sen. Corker and I have introduced legislation that would reduce entitlement spending by nearly $1 trillion in exchange for the president’s expected request to increase the debt ceiling.”
To the Editor:
I just went to my first Breakfast with the Legislators, hosted by the League of Women Voters in Oak Ridge.
First, let me thank the League and the four legislators who came, representatives Kent Calfee and John Ragan, and senators Ken Yager and Randy McNally.
I appreciate the thoughtful and varied questions that were asked. I learned a lot from the legislators and the questions.
My particular area of concern was the expansion of Medicaid/TennCare in Tennessee under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare).
Tennessee senators Bob Corker and Lamar Alexander have introduced a plan to reduce the growth in federal entitlement spending by almost $1 trillion in exchange for increasing the nation’s debt limit by $1 trillion, possibly this spring.
The Dollar for Dollar Act of 2012 would reduce the growth in spending on Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security, according to a statement posted on Corker’s website. Most of the spending reductions—$689 billion—would come from Medicare reform.
Corker and Alexander seemed confident that Congress and the White House would reach a deal in the so-called “fiscal cliff” negotiations, a high-stakes debate that has dragged on for weeks over how to avoid automatic spending cuts and tax increases starting Jan. 1.
“When the dust settles, federal income taxes will not increase for almost all Americans next year,” Corker and Alexander said.
The two Republicans said their dollar-for-dollar plan “focused on helping Americans avoid falling off the fiscal cliff no one wants to talk about, the looming bankruptcy of Medicare.”
