The Act is sponsored by the American Legislative Exchange Council,(ALEC) a coalition of conservative, moderate and libertarian state legislators who support "Limited Government, Free Markets and Federalism."

The main objectives of the legislation:

• Ensuring Access to Health Services—Without Waiting Lists. When consumers control the dollars, they make the decisions. On the other hand, a single-payer health care —which forces patients to enroll in a one-size-fits-all plan with rich benefits and weak cost-sharing—will cause spending to skyrocket and policymakers to ration care as a cost-containment measure.

• ALEC's Freedom of Choice in Health Care Act ensures a person's right to pay directly for medical care. Single-payer systems, like in Canada, make it illegal for citizens to go outside the government's health care plan and contract for their own medical services. Cost overruns require most single-payer plans to restrict patient choices, and instead mandate an "evidence-based" treatment schedule that standardizes care.

• ALEC's Freedom of Choice in Health Care Act would block legislation that imposes costly, bureaucratic penalties for choosing to obtain or decline health coverage. This provision strikes at the heart of an individual mandate—implemented in Massachusetts and elsewhere—that penalize individuals and businesses for failing to purchase health insurance.

Where does it stand?

According to ALEC, legislation has been filed in 35 states:

Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. (Arizona's HCR 2014, a revised version of the ALEC model, will be put on the ballot in 2010.)

The legislation has since passed and been signed into law in Idaho, and is on the verge of becomming the law of the land in Virginia and Oklahoma.

In Texas there are calls for Gov. Rick Perry to call a special session of the legislature for HCFCA.