TN's health-care opt-out bill defeated

Tennessean June 3, 2010 A bill seeking to allow Tennesseans to opt out of the new federal health-care law has been defeated in the House. The measure sponsored by Republican Rep. Mike Bell of Riceville was defeated by a single vote in the House Budget Subcommittee on Wednesday. State Attorney General Bob Cooper has questioned the constitutionality of Bell's measure on the basis that it could be pre-empted by federal law. Cooper said a related provision to require his office to mount a legal challenge to protect those who opt out of the law could run afoul of separation of powers rules in the Tennessee Constitution. The companion bill passed the Senate in February. A separate but related bill, the Health Care Freedom Act, sponsored by Rep. Susan Lynn, R-Mt. Juliet, is awaiting a vote by the full House