WHO WE ARE
The Tennessee Health Care Campaign was founded in 1989 as a statewide, volunteer led non-profit, and that is still our structure today.
Our vision has always been that ALL Tennesseans will have affordable, high quality, and equitable access to healthcare. While we are closer to that vision than we were in 1989, we all know there is much more work to be done here in Tennessee and at the federal level to realize that vision.
Our mission is to advocate for policies and programs that improve the health and wellbeing of Tennesseans.
Our goals, strategies, and services are premised on these core values:
- All people in Tennessee deserve access to affordable, high-quality, and equitable, health care.
- Communities and individuals should have a meaningful voice and opportunities to participate at all levels of health policy.
- Health care systems should operate transparently, provide high value and quality experiences, and be person-centered.
- Health care systems change is too big to do alone and requires collaborating with like-minded organizations and coalitions.
- Diversity of ideas and people are essential in every conversation on health care delivery and reform.
Our organizational goals are revisited every three years by our statewide board of directors. These goals for 2022 through 2024 are:
- Increase Access to Care Through TennCare Expansion.
- Increase Access to Care by Connecting Consumers to Insurance.
- Educate about Policies and Programs that Support Access to Care in Tennessee.
Our strategies to pursue these goals include:
- Mobilizing and engaging consumers, volunteers, and communities.
- Providing policy analysis, education, and advocacy.
- Designing and implementing strategic communications.
- Building coalitions and strategic alliances with stakeholders.
- Generating resources from diverse sources to sustain efforts.
- Supporting consumer assistance programs via a statewide hotline.
Our Current Work
InsureALLTN Tennesseans seeking assistance in finding affordable health care can call our hotline to be connected to an enrollment assister who can help them apply for an ACA Marketplace plan or TennCare, or to a safety net provider at a community health center or charitable care clinic.
Non-profit licensed health insurance agents will assist at no charge. Assistance is available in English or Spanish, with a language line interpreter for other languages. Call 844-644-5443 or visit our website InsureALLTN.com to schedule a phone appointment.
THCC Rural Health Equity Project Many of our volunteers and Board members live in communities across that state that experienced a hospital closure over the past decade. In 2017 we applied for a small grant to develop a partnership with Vanderbilt University-based community health researchers to look into the causes and impacts of rural hospital closures. That research culminated in a report Rural Hospital Closures:”The Ambulance is our Emergency Room” The Voices of Rural Tennesseans. A second report Saving Tennessee’s Rural Hospitals: Strategies for Success shares insights from key hospital stakeholders on survival, viability and a hospital’s ability to thrive. Read the full reports here.
Vaccine Equity The COVID pandemic exposed deep longstanding health inequities in Tennessee. Low income African American and Hispanic communities are chronically underserved and marginalized by systemic racism. Many people are uninsured and have limited access to medical care, while working in some of the highest risk occupations. Language, culture and immigration status create additional barriers. Culturally appropriate and community affirming strategies that encourage local community leadership are needed to reach these communities.
THCC’s Vaccine Equity program is partnering with trusted local leaders and health care providers serving underserved Black and Latinx communities. We identify and train Vaccine Ambassadors, conduct participatory research on barriers to vaccination in the target communities, develop PSAs and other educational materials, train front line health care providers and sponsor vaccine clinics.
TennCare Advocates Coalition THCC maintains a positive working relationship with the Division of TennCare and other non-profit organizations who provide direct service to Medicaid recipients with the aim of providing voice to the challenges they experience accessing care. Sometimes that voice may be constructive but critical of changes being proposed in the program, but often voicing the problems leads to solutions to improve service and coverage for families with special health care issues or circumstances.
Legislative Advocacy. Our volunteers monitor legislation introduced each year in the Tennessee General Assembly and advocate for bills, often in coalition with other partner organizations, that we believe will improve access to health care or the quality of care in our state. We also monitor Congressional legislation and share analysis of bills on issues that impact the health of Tennesseans. THCC supporters have been advocating for our state to expand TennCare to all low-income Tennesseans and continue to look at strategies to close the coverage gap. We also care about keeping health care affordable for Tennesseans who are insured or underinsured. To learn more about recent advocacy click here.
Health Policy Education. For over a decade, THCC has hosted an annual health policy conference with the support of generous sponsors. Our conferences offer opportunities to learn about state and federal health policy initiatives and innovative programs being developed by other non-profits or state or local agencies to improve access and affordability of care. View the conference archives here.
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Advocating for Health Care for All Since 1989
Tennessee Health Care Campaign (THCC) was incorporated as a 501(c)(3) in 1989 with a vision for all Tennesseans to have affordable, high quality, and equitable health care. Over the course of our 35-year history, we have led advocacy efforts to expand Medicaid to pregnant mothers and children, served as an ombudsman program to help TennCare applicants, and mobilized volunteers to support direct outreach and enrollment of uninsured Tennesseans.
In recent years, our advocacy, enrollment, education and coalition building have helped contribute to the enrollment of over 555,000 Tennesseans in Federal Healthcare Marketplace plans.
Our Board of Directors consists of consumers, advocates, and social service professionals from throughout the state. THCC works in collaboration with advocacy groups, affected constituents, community leaders, and policy makers—from grassroots to grasstops—to influence positive change in public health and health care.
Current and ongoing work:
- Connecting local health advocates with their elected representatives
- Building and expanding statewide and national coalitions
- Public educational and training events
- Promoting accurate health information to underserved communities.
- Advocating for consumers’ and patients’ rights and expansion of Medicaid
- Enrolling eligible Tennesseans in the Affordable Care Act Marketplace and TennCare.
Key Victories:
- Successfully prevented TennCare from implementing proposed Block Grant financing and proposed prescription drug tier limits. (2023)
- Joined patient advocates nationwide in passing caps on insulin copays and curbs on big pharma charges to Medicare. (2022)
- Responded to the COVID pandemic with vaccine equity programming for underserved black and brown communities. (2021-2024)
- Advocated for the successful passage of the No Surprises Act to protect consumers from surprise medical bills. (2020)
- Built a statewide network of consumer assistance for enrollment in Affordable Care Act Marketplace insurance and TennCare. (2014- present)
- Joined advocacy groups nationwide to pass the Affordable Care Act (2010)
- Advocated for the reauthorization of the State’s Children’s Health Insurance Program (S-CHIP) and improving CoverKids (Tennessee’s S-CHIP)
- Expanding continuous and quality health care through Medicaid/TennCare
- Expanding and improving Cover Tennessee programs
- CoverKids (S-CHIP) dental & vision benefit expansion (2007)
- Won patients’ rights through improved hospital charity care policy (2007)
- Initiated premium assistance program for Tennessee’s new high-risk pool, Access TN (2006)
- Led efforts to protect children, despite the TennCare cuts to adults (2005)
- Created a grassroots to grass tops strategy that resulted in reducing the number of adults cut for TennCare health coverage, from 323,000 to 170,000 (2005)
- Led Tennessee’s efforts with Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Covering Kids Initiative (1998 – 2006)
- Led advocate efforts to expand coverage to uninsured children (1997)
- Led consumer groups for innovative Medicaid program called TennCare (1994)
- Expanded coverage to low-income pregnant women (1990)