Governor credits Medicaid block-grant approach with $1 billion saved; proposes reinvestment in health priorities

Governor Bill Lee told the joint convention that Tennessee's Medicaid approach — a block grant and federal shared-savings agreement — has produced $1 billion in savings to date and that the state has used those savings to reinvest in health priorities.

"Because Tennessee was willing to challenge the status quo, we have saved $1,000,000,000 in Medicaid costs to date. And that has enabled us to invest more in mothers, in infants, in mental health, in rural health, and we'll continue to reinvest those savings into our Medicaid population to make sure that we improve the health and well-being of the people that we serve," Lee said.

Lee said Tennessee remains the only state with a shared-savings agreement with the federal government — a claim he made in the address — and described the savings as enabling further investments. The transcript does not contain a legislative action tied to the savings nor detailed amounts for the reinvestments; the governor described broad priority areas that would receive funding.

The remarks were presented as part of Lee's overview of past administration achievements and as justification for continued investment in health programs in the upcoming budget cycle.