Chattanooga’s Sen. Gardenhire Under Fire for Insure Tennessee Vote

  Hamilton County Democratic Party Chairman Terry Lee blames Senator Todd Gardenhire for the defeat of Insure Tennessee on Wednesday. 

  “Clearly Governor Haslam was wrong when he told President Obama to trust Republicans to care for ‘the least of these’ because Senator Gardenhire is willing to leave over a quarter of a million Tennesseans without healthcare,” said Lee. “It’s clear that he puts politics before the people of his district.”

  The Governor found more support from Democrats for his insurance plan than from his own party.

  Lee also blames the failure on lukewarm support from Lt. Governor Ron Ramsey and Speaker Beth Harwell.

  The plan would have been funded by Tennessee hospitals and federal funding from the Affordable Healthcare Act.

  But Republicans have questioned what happens in two years when the federal funding ends.

  Meanwhile, the Associated Press reports that six of the seven Republicans voting against the plan get state-supported health insurance themselves, including Senator Gardenhire.
  Democrats brought that up during the debate.
  Sen. Gardenhire angrily rejected the idea that lawmakers on state policies should be more receptive to the governor’s proposal.
  He said that he has private insurance through his employer. 
  On Thursday, he clarified that he is, in fact, enrolled in a state insurance plan.
  But he doesn’t use it because his private coverage is better.