The Chattanooga City Council passed a symbolic resolution tonight in support of Insure Tennessee.
Councilman Chris Anderson, who brought the resolution, said it is important for the council to advocate for the 25,000 residents of Hamilton County who do not have access to affordable health insurance.
"We represent them. We represent people who need help. We are the voice of the people who are closest to the people and it's absolutely in the purview of this council to make those voices heard," Anderson said.
Six city council members voted in favor of the resolution which throws support behind Gov. Bill Haslam's plan to spread health coverage to an estimated 280,000 low-income Tennesseans, and was twice rejected by Republican-controlled Senate committees this spring.
Councilmen Larry Grohn, Chip Henderson and Ken Smith abstained from the vote.
Haslam's Insure Tennessee plan seeks to leverage federal dollars under the Affordable Care Act to extend health insurance coverage to the adults who fall in the insurance "gap," and do not have access to insurance through their job or on the health exchanges, and do not meet TennCare's current requirements for state insurance.
The legislation is expected to appear again before the general assembly next year.
See Wednesday's Times Free Press for the full story.