Tea Party leaders called on Tennessee Monday to join a compact with other states aimed at upending the national health care reform law.
They held a news conference with Senate Speaker Ron Ramsey and Sen. Mae Beavers, R-Mt. Juliet, to tout their legislation.
It would sign up Tennessee to an as-yet nonexistent regional health care compact. If approved by Congress and signed by the president, the states in the compact would receive federal health care cash with no strings attached to spend as they see fit, according to Beavers and Ramsey.
“Other states are joining us in this effort,” said Beavers, who is sponsoring the Tea Party-backed bill. “An interstate health care compact is a powerful vehicle for states to confront the federal health care law. It essentially provides a permanent waiver for each member state to create whatever health care regulations the legislature deems best for the citizens of that state.”
Tennessee Tea Party president Tami Kilmarx conceded the proposal “may be pie in the sky in a lot of ways. But we’re using everything at our disposal to push back against the federal government.”