TennCare isn't just Medicaid (insurance for the destitute). TennCare is universal health care. Why is the federal government footing 2/3rds of the bill for this?
When Tenncare (pronounced Hillarycare) was created they merged the Medicaire system with the state's indigent care system. The Federal Government continued to pay what they would for Medicaire, and the state contributed the rest.
I suppose that when they made it so that everyone from the governor to my pet cat qualified, they expected the Feds to contribute more. Then they could trot it out as "a working model of universal health care." Somehow Congress neglected to play along and now they have bloated roles and the people of Tennessee and the insurance companies are paying for a system that expands at an incredible rate.
I think our Rat governor wanted to lose that case so he could push the income tax again. In fact, there are those that believe that was the sole purpose of the program.
If this many had been dropped from the roles when first proposed, it might have fixed things. Now, I suspect, it is like bailing water from an already sunken boat.