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SB0748 • 2026

TennCare

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 71, relative to TennCare.

Active

The official status still shows this bill as active or still awaiting another formal step.

Sponsor
Yager, Hicks G
Last action
2026-04-14
Official status
Placed on Senate Finance, Ways, and Means Committee calendar for 4/21/2026
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

The official source material does not explicitly state that it updates Tennessee law, but the bill's content implies such an update.

TennCare Ambulance Reimbursement Act

This bill changes how TennCare reimburses ambulance services for emergency and nonemergency transports.

What This Bill Does

  • Requires TennCare to pay at least 67.5% of Medicare's rate for emergency ambulance services.
  • Requires TennCare to pay the full Medicare rate for nonemergency ambulance services.

Who It Names or Affects

  • TennCare recipients who use ambulance services.
  • Ambulance companies that provide emergency and nonemergency transport services in Tennessee.

Terms To Know

TennCare
The state's Medicaid program, which provides health care to low-income individuals.
Medicare
A federal health insurance program for people aged 65 and older, as well as younger people with certain disabilities or conditions.

Limits and Unknowns

  • The bill does not specify how the increased costs will be funded.
  • It is unclear if this change will affect all ambulance services equally.

Bill History

  1. 2026-04-14 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on Senate Finance, Ways, and Means Committee calendar for 4/21/2026

  2. 2026-03-05 Tennessee General Assembly

    Sponsor(s) Added.

  3. 2026-03-04 Tennessee General Assembly

    Sponsor(s) Added.

  4. 2026-03-03 Tennessee General Assembly

    Sponsor(s) Added.

  5. 2025-04-21 Tennessee General Assembly

    Assigned to General Subcommittee of Senate Finance, Ways, and Means Committee

  6. 2025-04-17 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on Senate Finance, Ways, and Means Committee calendar for 4/21/2025

  7. 2025-04-14 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on Senate Finance, Ways, and Means Committee calendar for 4/15/2025

  8. 2025-04-14 Tennessee General Assembly

    Rule #83(8) Suspended, to be heard in Senate Finance, Ways & Means Committee on 4/15/2025

  9. 2025-04-09 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on s/c cal Finance, Ways, and Means Subcommittee for 4/14/2025

  10. 2025-04-02 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed behind the budget

  11. 2025-03-26 Tennessee General Assembly

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

  12. 2025-03-26 Tennessee General Assembly

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

  13. 2025-03-24 Tennessee General Assembly

    Sponsor(s) Added.

  14. 2025-03-20 Tennessee General Assembly

    Sponsor(s) Added.

  15. 2025-03-19 Tennessee General Assembly

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

  16. 2025-03-19 Tennessee General Assembly

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

  17. 2025-03-14 Tennessee General Assembly

    Sponsor(s) Added.

  18. 2025-03-12 Tennessee General Assembly

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

  19. 2025-03-05 Tennessee General Assembly

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

  20. 2025-03-04 Tennessee General Assembly

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

  21. 2025-02-26 Tennessee General Assembly

    Recommended for passage, refer to Senate Finance, Ways, and Means Committee

  22. 2025-02-26 Tennessee General Assembly

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

  23. 2025-02-19 Tennessee General Assembly

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

  24. 2025-02-12 Tennessee General Assembly

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

  25. 2025-02-10 Tennessee General Assembly

    Introduced, Passed on First Consideration

  26. 2025-02-04 Tennessee General Assembly

    Filed for introduction

  27. 2025-02-03 Tennessee General Assembly

    Assigned to s/c Tenncare Subcommittee

  28. 2025-02-03 Tennessee General Assembly

    P2C, ref. to Insurance Committee

  29. 2025-01-27 Tennessee General Assembly

    Intro., P1C.

  30. 2025-01-16 Tennessee General Assembly

    Filed for introduction

Official Summary Text

Abstract summarizes the bill.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text 
HOUSE BILL 201
By Hicks G

SENATE BILL 748
By Yager

SB0748
000160
- 1 -

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 71,
relative to TennCare.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:
SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 71-5-165, is amended by deleting
subsection (a) and substituting:
(a) The bureau of TennCare shall reimburse a public or private ground-based
ambulance service that bills for transports and has a base of operations in this state that
provides a covered emergency service to a TennCare recipient at a rate not less than
sixty-seven and one-half percent (67.5%) of the federal medicare program's allowable
charge for participating providers. The bureau of TennCare shall reimburse a public or
private ground-based ambulance service that bills for transports and has a base of
operations in this state that provides a covered nonemergency service to a TennCare
recipient at a rate not less than one hundred percent (100%) of the federal medicare
program's allowable charge for participating providers.
SECTION 2. This act takes effect upon becoming a law, the public welfare requiring it.