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HB0171 • 2026

TennCare

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 71, Chapter 5, Part 15, relative to ambulances.

Budget Healthcare Taxes
Enacted

This bill passed the Legislature and reached final enactment based on the latest official action.

Sponsor
Reedy, Yager
Last action
2025-05-13
Official status
Comp. became Pub. Ch. 378
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

The official source does not provide details on how the extended assessment period will be used or any potential changes it might bring.

TennCare Ambulance Assessment Changes

This bill changes the payment deadline for ambulance assessments to 45 calendar days and extends the assessment program until June 30, 2026.

What This Bill Does

  • Extends the time for ambulance providers to pay an assessment from 30 business days to 45 calendar days after receiving a notice from TennCare.
  • Requires the Office of Emergency Services to provide full access to ambulance run reports to the Commissioner of Health, who can then share this information with TennCare as needed.
  • Extends the ground ambulance service annual assessment program until June 30, 2026.

Who It Names or Affects

  • Ambulance providers in Tennessee
  • The Office of Emergency Services and the Commissioner of Health

Terms To Know

Assessment
A payment required by TennCare from ambulance providers.
Protected health information
Personal medical data that is kept confidential and secure under state and federal laws.

Limits and Unknowns

  • The bill does not specify how the extended assessment period will be used or what changes it might bring.
  • It's unclear if there are any additional costs associated with providing more detailed reports to TennCare beyond June 30, 2026.

Amendments

These notes stay tied to the official amendment files and metadata from the legislature.

Amendment 1-0 to HB0171

Plain English: The amendment changes the time limit for certain ambulance-related actions from thirty business days to forty-five calendar days and adds new requirements for data sharing between different state offices.

  • Changes the deadline for a specific action related to ambulances from thirty business days to forty-five calendar days.
  • Requires the office of emergency services to provide the commissioner of health with access to ambulance run reports, allowing the bureau to receive additional requested data including protected health information.
  • Extends the date by which certain provisions expire from June 30, 2025, to June 30, 2026.
  • The amendment text does not provide specific details about what actions are affected by the change in time limits or how data sharing will be implemented.
Amendment 1-0 to SB0747

Plain English: The amendment changes the time limit for certain ambulance-related actions from thirty business days to forty-five calendar days and adds new requirements for data sharing between different state offices.

  • Changes the deadline for a specific action related to ambulances from thirty business days to forty-five calendar days.
  • Requires the office of emergency services to provide the commissioner of health with access to ambulance run reports, allowing the exchange of protected health information as needed.
  • Extends the date by which certain provisions expire from June 30, 2025, to June 30, 2026.
  • The amendment text does not provide detailed explanations for why these changes are being made or what specific actions must be completed within the new time frame.

Bill History

  1. 2025-05-13 Tennessee General Assembly

    Comp. became Pub. Ch. 378

  2. 2025-05-13 Tennessee General Assembly

    Effective date(s) 05/05/2025

  3. 2025-05-13 Tennessee General Assembly

    Pub. Ch. 378

  4. 2025-05-05 Tennessee General Assembly

    Signed by Governor.

  5. 2025-04-23 Tennessee General Assembly

    Transmitted to Governor for action.

  6. 2025-04-22 Tennessee General Assembly

    Signed by H. Speaker

  7. 2025-04-22 Tennessee General Assembly

    Signed by Senate Speaker

  8. 2025-04-22 Tennessee General Assembly

    Enrolled and ready for signatures

  9. 2025-04-16 Tennessee General Assembly

    Comp. SB subst.

  10. 2025-04-16 Tennessee General Assembly

    Sponsor(s) Added.

  11. 2025-04-16 Tennessee General Assembly

    Passed H., Ayes 97, Nays 0, PNV 0

  12. 2025-04-16 Tennessee General Assembly

    Am. withdrawn. (Amendment 1 - HA0079)

  13. 2025-04-16 Tennessee General Assembly

    Subst. for comp. HB.

  14. 2025-04-10 Tennessee General Assembly

    H. Placed on Regular Calendar for 4/14/2025

  15. 2025-04-09 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on cal. Calendar & Rules Committee for 4/10/2025

  16. 2025-04-08 Tennessee General Assembly

    Rec. for pass; ref to Calendar & Rules Committee

  17. 2025-04-02 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on cal. Finance, Ways, and Means Committee for 4/8/2025

  18. 2025-04-02 Tennessee General Assembly

    Rec. for pass by s/c ref. to Finance, Ways, and Means Committee

  19. 2025-03-26 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on s/c cal Finance, Ways, and Means Subcommittee for 4/2/2025

  20. 2025-03-26 Tennessee General Assembly

    Action Def. in s/c Finance, Ways, and Means Subcommittee to 4/2/2025

  21. 2025-03-25 Tennessee General Assembly

    Sponsor(s) Added.

  22. 2025-03-24 Tennessee General Assembly

    Sponsor(s) Added.

  23. 2025-03-20 Tennessee General Assembly

    Rcvd. from S., held on H. desk.

  24. 2025-03-19 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on s/c cal Finance, Ways, and Means Subcommittee for 3/26/2025

  25. 2025-03-19 Tennessee General Assembly

    Assigned to s/c Finance, Ways, and Means Subcommittee

  26. 2025-03-17 Tennessee General Assembly

    Sponsor(s) Added.

  27. 2025-03-17 Tennessee General Assembly

    Passed Senate as amended, Ayes 32, Nays 0

  28. 2025-03-17 Tennessee General Assembly

    Senate adopted Amendment (Amendment 1 - SA0023)

  29. 2025-03-17 Tennessee General Assembly

    Engrossed; ready for transmission to House

  30. 2025-03-14 Tennessee General Assembly

    Sponsor(s) Added.

  31. 2025-03-14 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on Senate Regular Calendar for 3/17/2025

  32. 2025-03-12 Tennessee General Assembly

    Rec. for pass. if am., ref. to Finance, Ways, and Means Committee

  33. 2025-03-11 Tennessee General Assembly

    Recommended for passage, refer to Senate Calendar Committee

  34. 2025-03-05 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on cal. Insurance Committee for 3/12/2025

  35. 2025-03-04 Tennessee General Assembly

    Rec for pass if am by s/c ref. to Insurance Committee

  36. 2025-03-04 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on Senate Finance, Ways, and Means Committee calendar for 3/11/2025

  37. 2025-02-26 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on s/c cal Tenncare Subcommittee for 3/4/2025

  38. 2025-02-26 Tennessee General Assembly

    Recommended for passage with amendment/s, refer to Senate Finance, Ways, and Means Committee Ayes 9, Nays 0 PNV 0

  39. 2025-02-19 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on Senate Health and Welfare Committee calendar for 2/26/2025

  40. 2025-02-12 Tennessee General Assembly

    Passed on Second Consideration, refer to Senate Health and Welfare Committee

  41. 2025-02-10 Tennessee General Assembly

    Introduced, Passed on First Consideration

  42. 2025-02-04 Tennessee General Assembly

    Filed for introduction

  43. 2025-01-28 Tennessee General Assembly

    Assigned to s/c Tenncare Subcommittee

  44. 2025-01-27 Tennessee General Assembly

    P2C, ref. to Insurance Committee

  45. 2025-01-16 Tennessee General Assembly

    Intro., P1C.

  46. 2025-01-15 Tennessee General Assembly

    Filed for introduction

Official Summary Text

DEADLINE FOR PAYING ASSESSMENTS

Present law requires an
ambulance provider to pay an assessment to the bureau of TennCare no more than 30 business days after the day on which the bureau issues the ambulance provider notice of the assessment. This bill increases such time period from 30 to 45 business days.

P
ROVIDING BUREAU WITH INFORMATION WHERE APPLICABLE

This bill authorizes the office of emergency services to provide the bureau of TennCare with additional data, including reports containing protected health information, as needed to ensure the assessment
program remains in compliance with state and federal laws.

ASSESSMENT REQUIREMENT EXTENDED

Present law provides that the ground ambulance provider assessment established by current law terminates on June 30, 2025. This bill extends such assessment unti
l June 30, 2026.

ON MARCH 17, 2025, THE SENATE ADOPTED AMENDMENT #1 AND PASSED SENATE BILL 747, AS AMENDED.

AMENDMENT #1 makes the following revisions:



Revises the period by which an
ambulance provider
must
pay an assessment to the bureau of TennCare
from
no more than
45
business days after the day on which the bureau issues the ambulance provider notice of the assessment
to, instead, no more than 45 calendar days after such day.



Rewrites the provision that authorizes
the office of emergency services to provide the bureau of TennCare with additional data, including reports containing protected health information, as needed to ensure the assessment program remains in compliance with state and federal laws
to, instead, (i) require such
office
to
provide the commissioner of health with full access to ambulance run reports maintained by the office
and (ii) authorize

t
he commissioner
to
provide the bureau with ambulance run report data and additional requested data, including reports containing protected health information, as needed to ensure the assessment program remains in compliance with state and federal laws.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text 
SENATE BILL 747
By Yager

HOUSE BILL 171
By Reedy

HB0171
001729
- 1 -

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 71,
Chapter 5, Part 15, relative to ambulances.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:
SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 71-5-1503(a)(4), is amended by
deleting the language "thirty (30) business days" and substituting instead the language "forty-
five (45) business days".
SECTION 2. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 71-5-1506, is amended by adding
the following new subsection:
(c) The office of emergency services may provide the bureau with additional
data, including reports containing protected health information, as needed to ensure the
assessment program remains in compliance with state and federal laws.
SECTION 3. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 71-5-1509, is amended by deleting
the language "June 30, 2025" and substituting instead the language "June 30, 2026".
SECTION 4. This act takes effect upon becoming a law, the public welfare requiring it.