Today, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Tennessee announced that it is withdrawing from the exchange under the Affordable Care Act in the major parts of the state, including parts of District 46, effectively shedding about 112,000 Tennesseans from its rolls.
Citing instability in the marketplace, the insurance company’s decision is the direct result of failed Republican leadership and Republicans’ inexplicable refusal to expand Medicaid and pass Insure Tennessee.
“Working families across District 46 are now feeling the effects of Republicans leadership and incompetent representation,” said state House District 46 candidate Amelia Morrison Hipps.
“Because of Republicans like Mark Pody, who blocked access to affordable and quality health care from the very beginning, sole proprietors, entrepreneurs, and small business owners with individual policies are now being directly impacted,” she added.
Hipps noted that Republicans like Pody have turned away over $2.5 billion “of our own tax dollars, causing our neighbors to suffer, our local economies to hurt, rural hospitals to close putting people’s lives at risk, and the insurance marketplace in Tennessee to become increasingly unstable.”
States that have expanded Medicaid are experiencing economic growth. Kentucky’s expansion is estimated to have a cumulative positive impact of $30.1 billion its economy through the state’s fiscal year 2021.
“Mark Pody’s refusal to champion Insure Tennessee shows a complete lack of compassion for our families. Instead, he has spent his time in office railing against the federal government with futile resolutions and threats of lawsuits,” she added.
“Pody has turned his back on the people of District 46 in many ways. He’s deprived working families of health care, blocked necessary resources from our classrooms, and kept people in poverty who deserve a higher wage,” Hipps said. “It’s time for a new voice in District 46.”
