Bill > SB2070

This bill, known as the "Stopping Health Insurers from Excluding Legal Decisions (SHIELD) Act," aims to prevent health insurance entities from penalizing healthcare providers based on patient vaccination exemptions. It defines an "exempt patient" as someone who has refused a vaccination for religious or medical reasons and provided a written statement, and clarifies that a "quality measure" refers to how insurers assess provider performance for reimbursement or network status. The core provision prohibits health insurance entities from using exempt patients in the denominator when calculating vaccination-related metrics, meaning these patients will not negatively impact a provider's performance scores. Furthermore, insurers cannot terminate a provider, reduce their reimbursement, or withhold payments solely because they have exempt patients, and claims denied or reduced in violation of these rules will be considered "clean claims" subject to interest penalties.

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https://wapp.capitol.tn.gov/apps/Billinfo/default.aspx?BillNumber=SB2070&ga=114