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HB0869 • 2026

Health Care

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 8; Title 47; Title 56; Title 63 and Title 68, relative to health records.

Healthcare
Enacted

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

Sponsor
Rudder, Reeves
Last action
2025-05-15
Official status
Comp. became Pub. Ch. 447
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

The official source material does not provide details on implementation timelines or dependency on federal regulations, leaving these points uncertain.

Health Records Changes

This bill changes Tennessee laws about health records by allowing quicker access to certain test results and requiring insurance companies to create new APIs for healthcare providers.

What This Bill Does

  • Removes the rule that stops doctors from sharing reports of serious illnesses like cancer or HIV with patients until 72 hours after they are finalized, unless directed otherwise.
  • Requires health insurance companies to set up two new types of API: one for provider access and another for prior authorization.

Who It Names or Affects

  • Patients who receive medical test results from healthcare providers.
  • Health insurance companies that need to create new APIs.
  • Doctors and other healthcare providers using these APIs.

Terms To Know

API
A set of rules for computer programs to communicate with each other, allowing them to share information easily.
Prior Authorization
The process where a healthcare provider needs approval from an insurance company before providing certain treatments or medications.

Limits and Unknowns

  • It is not clear how quickly the new APIs will be implemented by health insurance companies.
  • Some parts of the bill may depend on federal regulations that have not yet been finalized.

Amendments

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

Amendment 1-0 to HB0869

Plain English: This amendment changes Tennessee's health care laws to remove certain restrictions on accessing and sharing health information through specific technical standards.

  • Removes a clause that previously limited access to health records in Section 63-2-104(b) of the Tennessee Code Annotated.
  • Deletes subsection (c) from Section 63-2-104, which contained exceptions or additional rules about accessing health records.
  • Adds new requirements for health insurance companies to provide specific types of application programming interfaces (APIs) that allow patients and providers better access to health information.
  • Specifies when these APIs must be established by health insurance entities based on federal regulations.
  • The amendment text does not specify the exact nature or impact of the removed clauses in Sections 63-2-104(b) and (c).
Amendment 1-0 to SB0890

Plain English: The amendment removes certain sections of existing laws and adds new requirements for health insurance entities to provide specific application programming interfaces (APIs) to improve access to health information.

  • Removes language from Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 63-2-104(b), that previously excluded subsection (c).
  • Deletes subsection 63-2-104(c) entirely.
  • Adds new requirements for health insurance entities to establish and maintain specific APIs as outlined in federal regulations.
  • Modifies the timing requirement for establishing these APIs based on CMS regulations.
  • The exact impact of removing subsection (c) from Section 63-2-104 is not fully explained in the amendment text.

Bill History

  1. 2025-05-15 Tennessee General Assembly

    Comp. became Pub. Ch. 447

  2. 2025-05-15 Tennessee General Assembly

    Effective date(s) 07/01/2025

  3. 2025-05-15 Tennessee General Assembly

    Pub. Ch. 447

  4. 2025-05-09 Tennessee General Assembly

    Signed by Governor.

  5. 2025-05-01 Tennessee General Assembly

    Transmitted to Governor for action.

  6. 2025-04-30 Tennessee General Assembly

    Signed by H. Speaker

  7. 2025-04-29 Tennessee General Assembly

    Signed by Senate Speaker

  8. 2025-04-28 Tennessee General Assembly

    Enrolled and ready for signatures

  9. 2025-04-21 Tennessee General Assembly

    Comp. SB subst.

  10. 2025-04-21 Tennessee General Assembly

    Sponsor(s) Added.

  11. 2025-04-21 Tennessee General Assembly

    Passed H., Ayes 92, Nays 0, PNV 0

  12. 2025-04-21 Tennessee General Assembly

    Am. withdrawn. (Amendment 1 - HA0258)

  13. 2025-04-21 Tennessee General Assembly

    Subst. for comp. HB.

  14. 2025-04-17 Tennessee General Assembly

    H. Placed on Regular Calendar for 4/21/2025

  15. 2025-04-17 Tennessee General Assembly

    Sponsor(s) Added.

  16. 2025-04-16 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on cal. Calendar & Rules Committee for 4/17/2025

  17. 2025-04-08 Tennessee General Assembly

    Rec. for pass; ref to Calendar & Rules Committee

  18. 2025-04-03 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on cal. Insurance Committee for 4/8/2025

  19. 2025-04-01 Tennessee General Assembly

    Rec. for pass. if am., ref. to Insurance Committee

  20. 2025-03-26 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on cal. Health Committee for 4/1/2025

  21. 2025-03-25 Tennessee General Assembly

    Action def. in Health Committee to 4/1/2025

  22. 2025-03-19 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on cal. Health Committee for 3/25/2025

  23. 2025-03-19 Tennessee General Assembly

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

  24. 2025-03-17 Tennessee General Assembly

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

  25. 2025-03-13 Tennessee General Assembly

    Engrossed; ready for transmission to House

  26. 2025-03-13 Tennessee General Assembly

    Sponsor(s) Added.

  27. 2025-03-13 Tennessee General Assembly

    Passed Senate as amended, Ayes 31, Nays 0

  28. 2025-03-13 Tennessee General Assembly

    Senate adopted Amendment (Amendment 1 - SA0067)

  29. 2025-03-12 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on s/c cal Health Subcommittee for 3/19/2025

  30. 2025-03-11 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on Senate Regular Calendar for 3/13/2025

  31. 2025-03-05 Tennessee General Assembly

    Assigned to s/c Health Subcommittee

  32. 2025-03-05 Tennessee General Assembly

    Ref. to Health Committee - Insurance Committee

  33. 2025-03-04 Tennessee General Assembly

    Recommended for passage with amendment/s, refer to Senate Calendar Committee Ayes 7, Nays 0 PNV 0

  34. 2025-02-25 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on Senate Commerce and Labor Committee calendar for 3/4/2025

  35. 2025-02-25 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on Senate Commerce and Labor Committee calendar for 3/4/2025

  36. 2025-02-25 Tennessee General Assembly

    Action deferred in Senate Commerce and Labor Committee to 3/4/2025

  37. 2025-02-18 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on Senate Commerce and Labor Committee calendar for 2/25/2025

  38. 2025-02-12 Tennessee General Assembly

    Passed on Second Consideration, refer to Senate Commerce and Labor Committee

  39. 2025-02-10 Tennessee General Assembly

    Introduced, Passed on First Consideration

  40. 2025-02-06 Tennessee General Assembly

    P2C, caption bill, held on desk - pending amdt.

  41. 2025-02-05 Tennessee General Assembly

    Intro., P1C.

  42. 2025-02-05 Tennessee General Assembly

    Filed for introduction

  43. 2025-02-04 Tennessee General Assembly

    Filed for introduction

Official Summary Text

ON MARCH 13, 2025, THE SENATE ADOPTED AMENDMENT #1 AND PASSED SENATE BILL 890, AS AMENDED.

AMENDMENT #1 rewrites the bill to, instead, make the fol
lowing revisions to present law:



Removes the provision prohibiting the following reports,
test results, and any other related results
from
be
ing
disclosed by a designated entit
y
to a patient as part of the patient's electronic health record until 72 hours after the results are finalized, unless the healthcare provider directs the release of the results before the end of that period:
(i) p
athology reports or radiology reports that have a reasonable likelihood of showing a finding of new or recurring malignancy;

(ii) tests that could reveal genetic markers;

(iii) a positive HIV test, except that this
law
does not prevent the disclosure of HIV test results, including viral load and CD4 count test results, to a patient living with HIV by secure internet website or other electronic means if the patient has previously been informed about the results of a positive HIV test; or

(iv) presence of antigens indicating a hepatitis infection.



In addition to other
application programming interfaces (API)
required by law to be established and maintained by a health insurance entity
for the benefit of all insureds and contracted providers
, requires a health insurance entity to also establish and maintain for such purpose (i) a
provider access API and (ii) a prior authorization API.



Removes the provision requiring the
p
atient access API, the provider directory API, and the payer-to-payer exchange API required by law to be established and maintained by a health insurance entity to be established in accordance with standards published in a final rule issued by the federal centers for medicare and medicaid services and published in the Federal Register, and to align with federal effective dates, including enforcement delays and suspensions, issued by the federal centers for medicare and medicaid services.



For
the
p
atient access API, the provider directory API, the payer-to-payer exchange API,
the
provider access API
,
and
the
prior authorization API
required to be established and maintained by a health insurance entity, requires such entity to
establish and maintain each API for its insured and providers at the earliest date CMS requires any of its regulated plan or product types to establish and maintain the same API.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text 
SENATE BILL 890
By Reeves

HOUSE BILL 869
By Rudder

HB0869
000962
- 1 -

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 8;
Title 47; Title 56; Title 63 and Title 68, relative to
health records.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:
SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 63-2-101(a)(1), is amended by
deleting "ten (10) working days" and substituting "ten (10) calendar days".
SECTION 2. This act takes effect upon becoming a law, the public welfare requiring it.