Policy Priorities
Health Priorities
2025 Priority: Expanding Access to Care
A healthy Tennessee is a working Tennessee. Access to affordable, reliable primary care is essential for individuals to prevent and manage chronic conditions, stay in the labor force, advance their careers and earnings, and support their families and communities.
​But today, too many Tennesseans—especially in rural and underserved communities—face barriers to basic care. And health providers - themselves significant employers, especially in those communities - struggle to sustain operations when the patients they’re bound by law to serve lack the ability to pay for some or all of the costs of care.
When health breaks down, so does the workforce. That’s why we see health care as an economic issue—not just a medical one.
What We Think
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Primary care is essential to workforce participation and long-term economic mobility
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Nearly 300,000 Tennesseans remain uninsured and unable to access preventive care
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TennCare reimbursement rates are too low to sustain providers—especially in rural areas
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Tennessee has an opportunity to reinvest in primary care and reduce barriers for both patients and providers
What We Want
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Expand Medicaid to cover up to 300,000 Tennesseans under the Affordable Care Act
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Increase provider reimbursement rates through TennCare to protect access in rural and underserved areas
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Reinvest TennCare waiver savings into innovative, community-based primary care models
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Reduce administrative and policy barriers to care delivery for providers and insurers
Why It Matters To Business
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Workers with unmanaged health issues miss more days and experience more turnover
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Rising health costs affect both employer benefits and public resources
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Rural businesses struggle to attract talent without access to local care
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Preventive care helps people stay in the workforce—and out of emergency rooms
Health care is not a fringe benefit. It’s core human capital infrastructure for a thriving economy.
How the Roundtable Leads
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Promote business-voiced support for Medicaid expansion and TennCare innovation
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Provide data and case studies on how access to care supports workforce retention
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Collaborate with insurers, providers, and public agencies to identify workable solutions
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Elevate the voice of business in health policy discussions at the state level
Related Issues We Track
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Child care and family stability (see Workforce Policy →)
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Rural health access
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Behavioral and mental health policy
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Preventive and value-based care models