Sponsor rolls bill requiring hospitals to notify patients when uncompensated-care funds erase debt

Senate Bill 403 was rolled two weeks by the Commerce and Labor Committee on March 11, 2025, after the bill’s sponsor said she wanted more time to meet with the Tennessee Hospital Association and committee leaders. The bill would require hospitals that accept public tax dollars for uncompensated care to apply an equal amount of those funds to patient debts and notify patients that the debt has been erased.

Sponsor remarks: the sponsor told the committee, “If a hospital accepts tax dollars, public tax dollars for uncompensated care, then they must erase an equal amount of patient debt and notify those patients that their burden is lifted.” The sponsor cited a recent figure — $153,000,000 to 107 hospitals in the first quarter of the fiscal year — as an example of public dollars flowing to hospitals for uncompensated care.

Committee discussion focused on implementation questions. Members asked how the requirement would interact with existing charity and uncompensated-care practices and whether hospitals could claim the funds are already applied to charity care. The sponsor said the bill would require hospitals to notify patients and make clear how funds were applied: “My bill will require that you let that patient know that their debt has been taken care of.”

Outcome: The sponsor agreed to further meetings with the Tennessee Hospital Association and committee leaders; the committee rolled the bill two weeks for additional stakeholder discussion. No final committee vote was taken.

Next steps: Sponsor and stakeholders will meet and the bill will return to Commerce and Labor at a future hearing. The committee record shows the roll was requested to allow negotiation on application and notification processes.