In rural Tennessee, access to health care is often measured in miles.
It is the distance to an emergency room, specialized care or a trusted provider.
As a physician in rural West Tennessee and chairman of the House Health Subcommittee, I have the opportunity to bring my experience caring for patients into the General Assembly as we consider policies affecting communities across our state.
Those roles have reinforced a simple principle for me: Where you live should not determine whether you can access quality health care.
Over the last several years, Tennessee has taken meaningful steps to strengthen rural health care, expand access to modern medicine and support the providers our communities depend on.
Sometimes that means putting new technology within reach of patients who need it most.
In 2024, I sponsored legislation requiring TennCare to cover genome sequencing for patients under age 21 who are hospitalized with certain complex or acute illnesses of unknown origin. The technology can help providers identify disease-causing genetic changes more quickly. For a family waiting for answers about a critically ill child, faster answers matter.
That legislation reflected what I believe good health policy should do: help patients and families, give providers better tools and use taxpayer dollars responsibly.
But access to innovative medicine means little if a community does not have access to basic health care close to home.
Perry County offers a powerful example.
For five years after Perry County Community Hospital closed in 2020, residents had no hospital in their county. I co-sponsored legislation, carried by Rep. Kirk Haston, R-Lobelville, declaring Perry County Community Hospital and Decatur County General Hospital “necessary providers,” a key step toward qualifying for critical-access hospital designation.
Perry County Community Hospital reopened its doors, restoring access to local emergency and inpatient care, imaging and laboratory services.
That is what improving rural health care looks like in practical terms: quality care closer to home.
We continued that work in 2026.
Access and affordability are often two sides of the same coin. It is not enough to develop better ways to diagnose and treat disease if patients cannot access the testing their providers need to determine the right course of care.
That is why I sponsored legislation expanding coverage for biomarker testing. This health assessment looks for biological characteristics that can help providers diagnose a condition, guide treatment or monitor a patient’s disease.
Beginning Jan. 1, 2027, qualifying plans under Tennessee’s State Group Insurance Program will cover biomarker testing ordered by a health care provider, while TennCare plans will cover the testing when medically necessary.
Better information can help providers make more informed, individualized treatment decisions.
Improving access also requires making sure providers can continue serving the communities that depend on them.
That is particularly important in rural Tennessee, where the loss of even one provider can leave patients traveling significantly farther for care.
For that reason, sponsoring the House version of the Stopping Health Insurers from Excluding Legal Decisions, or SHIELD Act, was an issue close to home. The law changes how certain vaccination-related quality measures are calculated when a patient has a qualifying medical or religious exemption. It also limits specified reimbursement and network actions against providers based on their retention of those exempt patients.
Providers should be evaluated fairly without unnecessary reimbursement pressures that make it harder to continue caring for patients.
Through the federal Rural Health Transformation Program, Tennessee received approximately $206.9 million for its first budget period to strengthen rural health systems, with investments supporting the health care workforce, technology and access across rural Tennessee. Earlier this month, the Tennessee Department of Health announced the first 53 projects receiving grants through the program’s Healthy Active Rural Tennessee initiative, reaching 44 counties.
Tennessee is also making an additional commitment through the Rural Healthcare Access Modernization Program. This year, the Tennessee General Assembly approved $104.4 million in TennCare shared savings for the FY27 budget, dedicating funding to rural health transformation, including capital investments and primary care expansion for rural health clinics.
These are significant investments, but success will not ultimately be measured by the size of a program or the number attached to a budget line.
It will be measured by whether a hospital can keep its doors open.
Whether a child with a complex illness can receive answers sooner.
And whether more Tennesseans can receive quality care without leaving the communities they call home.
We have made meaningful progress, but strengthening rural health care will require continued attention, innovation and investment.
My approach will remain the same: focus on policies that improve access for patients, strengthen the providers who serve them and use taxpayer resources responsibly.
Because rural Tennessee should not have to settle for less health care simply because it is rural.
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