About Us

20+ years of health care justice...

The Tennessee Health Care Campaign (THCC) is the state's premier nonprofit consumer health care advocacy group and a leader in the health care justice movement. Our mission for everyone to have guaranteed affordable choices in health care began in 1989. We envision a society where the physical, mental, and emotional health needs of all adults and children are met. Our Board of Directors is made up of consumers, advocates, and social service professionals from throughout the state, irrespective of partisan affiliation. 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.

Volunteers in communities throughout the state unite for change where they live through THCC’s Local Organizing Groups (LOG’s). This grassroots network regularly engages hundreds of volunteers through LOG’s in Chattanooga, Cookeville, Dyersburg, Jackson, Knoxville, Memphis, Nashville & the Tri Cities.

THCC seeks long-term, comprehensive solutions to ensure health care for everyone. We also work for various improvements as we continue our commitment to those directly impacted by lack of health care (particularly low-income children and adults). These folks include: those classified as uninsurable due to pre-existing medical conditions; anyone who is unable to obtain quality health care for any reason; the under-insured (have private health insurance that doesn’t cover their needs); and those struggling with medical debt due to previous mentioned factors. By involving and developing leaders from those most affected by public policy, THCC enables the faces and voices of the disenfranchised to be seen and heard, and helps everyday people to engage in civic participation--often for the first time.

Current and ongoing work:

• Leading Tennessee in the exciting new effort for National Health Care Reform
• Building a Health Care Justice Movement with Local Organizing Groups (LOGs)
• Public educational and training events throughout the year
• Connecting the dots between the uninsured, under-insured, and insured and the social and economic impact of health care and health care policy to individuals and communities
• Commitment to children’s health care by advocating for the reauthorization of the State’s Children’s Health Insurance Program (S-CHIP) and improving CoverKids (Tennessee’s S-CHIP)
• Building grassroots and coalition partner support
• Expanding continuous and quality health care through Medicaid/TennCare
• Expanding and improving Cover Tennessee programs
• Improve community safety-nets
• Advocating for consumers’ and patients’ rights
• Expanding partnerships and collaborations with national efforts

Key Victories:

• Expanded coverage to low-income pregnant women (1990)
• Led consumer groups for innovative Medicaid program called TennCare (1994)
• Led advocate efforts to expand coverage to uninsured children (1997)
• Led Tennessee’s efforts with Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Covering Kids Initiative (1998 – 2001)
• Continued leading Tennessee’s efforts with Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Covering Kids & Families Initiative (2002 – 2006)
• Led efforts to protect children, despite the TennCare cuts to adults (2005)
• Created a grassroots to grasstops strategy that resulted in reducing the number of adults cut for TennCare health coverage, from 323,000 to 170,000 (2005)
• Initiated premium assistance program for Tennessee’s new high-risk pool, Access TN (2006)
• CoverKids (S-CHIP) dental & vision benefit expansion (2007)
• Won patients' rights through improved hospital charity care policy (2007)
  

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