Legislative Issues & Updates

A central part of TMA’s advocacy mission is state-level government relations, and the advocacy team works with state lawmakers and other organizations to achieve members’ legislative priorities as defined by the Legislative Committee, Board of Trustees and House of Delegates. In 2019, TMA was named the most influential advocacy organization on Capitol Hill. Our lobbyists review hundreds of bills each year to identify measures that promote or threaten good healthcare policies, and then organize member physicians and organizations to help carry TMA’s support or opposition.

 

2025 Legislative Priorities

ACCESS TO TENNCARE
As physicians struggle to keep practices open amid growing inflation, limiting the number of Medicaid patients one accepts is often the first stopgap in reducing revenue loss. TMA will advocate for changes in the TennCare program for direct patient care providers to help narrow disparities in access between publicly and privately insured individuals.

 

PRIOR AUTHORIZATION NOTICE
In 2022, the Tennessee General Assembly passed legislation requiring both health care providers and health plans to notify patients when further information is needed to obtain a prior authorization approval. The law not only confuses patients, but it creates unnecessary administrative burden for the entity that has not requested anything— most often the physician. TMA will amend the current statute to clarify that only the entity requesting additional information be responsible for notifying the patient.

 

LETHAL FETAL ANOMALIES
A 2024 TMA survey showed that nearly 83% of physician respondents feel the Human Life Protection Act does not offer sufficient legal protections to lawfully terminate pregnancies to save the life or prevent irreversible impairment of major bodily function of the mother. TMA will work to further clarify the law by codifying specific situations in which termination may be medically necessary, such as fetal anomalies that are incompatible with life outside the womb.

 

Please send all press inquiries to communications@tnmed.org.