Policy Priorities
Health Priorities
Our business leaders know that in order to participate in our labor force - and to grow the earnings, careers and wealth which sustain themselves and their families – Tennesseans must be able to become and stay healthy. As sponsors of health coverage for more than half of all Tennesseans, and as the ultimate source of the wages, benefits and taxes which pay for care and coverage, our state’s employers play a critical role in supporting the health of our state’s residents.
State policies must promote access to and affordability of health care and coverage, in ways which consider Tennesseans, providers, insurers, and employers. It’s especially important to equip our state’s working-age population with the health care resources they need to prevent and manage chronic health conditions – which today keep too many Tennesseans from participating in our labor force, realizing their full potential in their families, workplaces and communities, and optimizing the quality of the lives they lead throughout our state.
Control Cost Pressures on Employee Health Benefit Plans
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A plurality of Tennesseans get their health care coverage through employer-sponsored health benefit plans - which deliver the primary care on which working Tennesseans rely to prevent and manage chronic health conditions.
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Employer-sponsored health plans also reimburse providers at full and fair rates, which help cover their losses for under-/un-compensated care.
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State policies should avoid mandates that increase benefit costs for employers and employees.
Train & Keep More Health Practitioners
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Tennessee needs to train and keep more practitioners to fill a shortage that’s predicted to grow to over 3,900 within ten years.
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Allowing practitioners below the M.D. level to safely practice to the full level of their licensure can sustain and grow access to care, especially for rural Tennesseans - and can allow our state to take advantage of new federal funding.
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Tort policies should also consider their effects on costly malpractice insurance and claims.
Train & Keep More Nurses, Technicians & Health Support Staff
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Practitioners aren’t the only health professions under ongoing, increasing pressure; our state also has a shortage of health support staff that’s becoming acute as many of experienced nurses and others continue to retire and change jobs.
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New, innovative supports are needed to sustain health support staff pipelines - and to sustain access to care for all Tennesseans.