Senate Passes Health Freedom Act

Tennessee’s Senate has joined the state House in passing bills that tell the federal government the state isn’t happy with national health care.

Today the Senate adopted language drafted by Senator Mae Beavers, which directs the state Attorney General to file a lawsuit opposing the national plan.

“This protects Tennesseans from the National Health Care…”

The bill claims that the national health plan forces Tennesseans to participate. But Senate Democratic Leader Jim Kyle argued that assumption is wrong, saying the bill doesn’t protect anything.

“The fact of the matter is, this bill does not do that, you know it doesn’t do that, those who will vote for it know that it doesn’t do that. This is about politics, this is about where we are in our relationship with the federal government.”

The Senate passed their measure today. It now goes to the House to begin the process of folding the two separate versions into one final bill. Both chambers are trying to finish the 2010 legislative session today.

Web Extra:

The bill is SB2560 Black, Beavers/ *HB2622 Lynn,

the Tennessee health freedom act.
This essentially is a “message” to the federal government that Tennessee doesn’t feel bound by certain provisions of the health reform act.

Because the House favored a bill sponsored by Rep. Susan Lynn, and the Senate favored a different version sponsored by Sen. Mae Beavers, the two houses ended up with different bills on their floors.

Lynn is challenging Beavers for the GOP nomination for Beavers’ senate seat. Beavers was forced to call up the Senate half of the Lynn bill in order to get her own name on the anti-Obama-care legislation.
Beavers called attention to the political fight between herself and the House sponsor:

“…and the sponsor in this chamber has agreed to only accept this language if this bill were to pass, so if it passes the Senate, it will be up to the House sponsor to either accept this language or to kill the Tennessee Health Freedom Act for this year.”

Beavers means that she would only accept her own language, and not Lynn’s milder language, in the bill.

In order to get her version of the “health freedom act” to the floor, Sen. Mae Beavers asked the Senate to recall her bill from a closed committee, an unusual step that goes around the Senate’s committee system.

Beavers insisted the language must go into state law. She said she wasn’t content to simply pass a resolution “memorializing” Congress on the issue.
(We ordinarily describe memorializing resolutions as “having no effect.”)
Kyle said of Beavers’ bill, “This is worse than a memorializing resolution.”

The Memphis Democrat read from Section 15-55 of the federal law:

“Freedom not to participate in federal health insurance programs.
“No individual, company, business, non-profit entity, or health insurance issuer offering group or individual health insurance coverage, shall be required to participate in the federal health insurance program created under this act…and there shall be no penalty or fine imposed upon any such issuer for refusing from participating in your program….”

Beavers insists that individuals may be fined through the Internal Revenue Service beginning in 2014.