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Subcommittee package adds more than $1.4 billion in new health and social services funding

Finance, Ways, and Means Subcommittee · April 15, 2026
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Summary

Chairman Hicks told the panel the FY27 package includes over $1.4 billion in new funding for health and social services, additional TennCare support, money for dental services and ALS research, and programmatic expansions including ECF choices and Pathways to Independence.

The Finance, Ways and Means Subcommittee heard that the FY27 appropriations package includes more than $1.4 billion in new state, federal and other dollars for health and social services.

Chairman Hicks listed components of the health funding: a $58,000,000 state adjustment tied to SNAP administration changes; $125,000,000 in shared savings to support rural hospital capital improvements alongside $1,500,000,000 in federal rural health transformation program funding over five years; and more than $250,000,000 in new state funding for TennCare to address medical inflation, prescription drug costs and utilization. Hicks also cited targeted allocations — $28,000,000 for unmet dental services and $11,000,000 for ALS research — plus funds to add 300 enrollees to the ECF Choices program and to support Pathways to Independence and Healthy Starts initiatives.

The items were presented as part of HB 2,631 during the committee’s consideration; the subcommittee adopted amendments and forwarded the bill to full finance.