Hospitals that treat Medicaid-eligible poor and uninsured patients are asking the federal government to delay $64 billion in cuts to the program while, ironically, at the same time Medicaid rolls are expanding.

The American Hospital Association wants a two-year delay as reductions of 50 percent, or $14.1 billion, are planned from fiscal 2014 through 2019. This according to draft regulations to be published in the Federal Register, as reported Tuesday by Bloomberg.

The Medicaid expansion will place an even greater financial burden on hospitals especially those heavily reliant generally on government reimbursement.

More than a dozen state governors — all Republicans — have balked at the process, choosing not to participate with the federal government to build their own insurance exchanges. These exchanges are designed to provide affordable health insurance to an estimated 34 to 44 million Americans currently without it.

Looks like the governor is gonna OK the whiskey bill.

Kerry Roberts, whose old Senate district was redistricted out of existence by his own party, wants back in the Senate where, presumably, he could convince his fellow Republicans not to erase him a second time.

Tennessee may lower its BAC threshhold to .05.

Five trucking companies are now suing Pilot.

Roy Herron is tired of Tennessee being Daily Show fodder.

The state Ethics Commission will hold hearings on the Ingram Group "oversight."

More to come, but here's the statement:

“Agriculture is the No. 1 industry in Tennessee.  Farmers play a vital role in our state’s economy, heritage and history.  I understand their concerns about large scale attacks on their livelihoods.  I also appreciate that the types of recordings this bill targets may be obtained at times under false pretenses, which I think is wrong,” Haslam said.

“Our office has spent a great deal of time considering this legislation.  We’ve had a lot of input from people on all sides of the issue.  After careful consideration, I am going to veto the legislation.  Some vetoes are made solely on policy grounds.  Other vetoes may be the result of wanting the General Assembly to reconsider the legislation for a number of reasons.  My veto here is more along the lines of the latter.  I have a number of concerns.

“First, the Attorney General says the law is constitutionally suspect.  Second, it appears to repeal parts of Tennessee’s Shield Law without saying so.  If that is the case, it should say so.  Third, there are concerns from some district attorneys that the act actually makes it more difficult to prosecute animal cruelty cases, which would be an unintended consequence.

“For these reasons, I am vetoing HB1191/SB1248, and I respectfully encourage the General Assembly to reconsider this issue.”
 

Sen. Alexander thinks the HHS secretary should explain something:

"Secretary Sebelius' fundraising for and coordinating with private entities helping to implement the new health care law may be illegal, should cease immediately and should be fully investigated by Congress," Alexander said.

The ranking Republican on the Senate committee that oversees health care policy, Alexander likened Sebelius' actions to the 1980s Iran-Contra scandal.

That erupted when it was discovered that a Reagan administration official, Marine Lt. Col. Oliver North, sold arms to Iran and sent some of the money through private groups to arm Nicaraguan rebels after Congress refused to appropriate funds for that purpose.

"Only the Congress has the authority to appropriate money," Alexander told reporters in Nashville. "And when the secretary seeks to do things outside of the government, which Congress refuses to do, the Constitution doesn't permit [it] and the federal law makes it illegal."

A Tennessee Tea Party group was one of many who got hemmed up by the IRS:

West said the Chattanooga Tea Party is among the 75 groups the agency admitted last week were victims of deliberate bureaucratic foot-dragging.

"It's a scandal. It is the heavy-handedness of a bureaucratic government agency that has gone awry," West said by telephone.

He noted that House Republicans are talking of holding hearings and said people of all political persuasions should support them.

"If they can do it to grass-roots tea party groups one year, they can to it to left-wing Occupy Wall Street people the next year. Either way, it's wrong," West said.

"Unless there's an investigation and heads roll, unless some people lose their jobs over this, then we know this is just political. They got caught; they were going to feign an apology and move on.