92-Year-Old Institution Closes in Tenn.

On Nov. 19, the last six residents were moved from Clover Bottom, ending an era of institutionalizing people with low IQs or other intellectual disabilities away from their communities, a practice that in recent years had come with a huge price tag for taxpayers - about half a million dollars per resident per year.

Like many states, Tennessee has moved slowly in the direction of closing its institutions. Clover Bottom was originally scheduled to be closed in 2005.

Its former residents -- many elderly and in poor health -- have been moved into small homes run by the state or by private subcontractors.

Editorial: Republican Govs Rethink Obamacare

Tennessee, like most states led by Republican governors, was so adamantly opposed to Obamacare that it rejected the money Washington offered to expand Medicaid coverage.

Now Gov. Bill Haslam is having second thoughts. He has watched several hospitals in his state close down because they could not afford the care they provided to the poor and uninsured. Even the hospitals that survived are taking a hit.

So now the governor is calling a special session of the state’s Legislature in January to reverse course.