By Todd Hatton/AP
Nashville, TN – A bill seeking to allow Tennesseans to opt out of the new federal health care law has once again failed in the House. The Senate voted 22-9 Wednesday to approve the "Health Freedom Act," sponsored by Republican Representative Mae Beavers, who says it protects Tennesseans from the national health care.
The House passed a similar version of the bill, but a report from a conference committee to work out differences in the legislation failed 44-39. Fifty votes were needed for passage. The bill also failed earlier this year in a House committee. State Attorney General Bob Cooper has questioned the constitutionality of the measure on the basis that it could be pre-empted by federal law.