Senate Passes Cover Tennessee with Tax Credit

The state senate passed Governor Phil Bredesen’s Cover Tennessee plan today, as a Republican attempt to tack on a medical malpractice cap failed.

The Senate overwhelming approved the plan on a 30 to 1 vote, while the chamber narrowly defeated medical malpractice amendment – 16 to 13.

Instead, the State Senate passed the healthcare program, by including a tax credit for some employers.

Under Cover Tennessee, employers, the state, and individuals would each contribute 50-dollars toward the premium for a basic healthcare plan. The amendment that passed today says if an employer opts to pay the 50-dollars for 80-percent of its employees, the company could be eligible for a tax credit of up to 10-percent.

Finance Commissioner Dave Goetz says details of the tax credit still need to be worked out, but he says one option is to base it on how many employees enroll.

“At 50-dollars per person for 10 employees, that’s 24-hundred dollars a year, that’s why we don’t think the fiscal impact will be that large at the beginning, it’ll give us a chance to get the program going. And to the extent that it would encourage them to do it, is not a bad thought. It’s one we’d had, it’s just one of those issues we didn’t feel ready to address but the senate was.”

The Senate’s plan in limited to companies with few than 25 employees. The house is scheduled to take up the Senate’s changes soon.