TMA’s physician leaders gathered in Nashville July 17-19 for the annual Board of Trustees retreat and quarterly meeting. The Board engaged in strategic planning to organize advocacy initiatives, assess needs for events in the upcoming year and prioritize work of the association. Notably, TMA approved the submission of an amicus brief challenging the state’s criminal abortion statute in addition to requesting a review of systemic downcoding.

Actions of the Board included: 

• Approval of a request to submit an amicus brief with the Tennessee Court of Appeals in the case of Phillips v. State of Tennessee. The case involves a constitutional challenge to the state’s criminal abortion statute. TMA will argue that Tennessee physicians must be able to offer medically necessary pregnancy termination care that is within the standard of care to pregnant women with high-risk or complicated pregnancies without the fear of criminal liability.
• Execution of an official letter from the TMA leadership to the Commissioner of Insurance with regard to automatic downcoding of E/M coded claims by Blue Cross Blue Shield of TN. The full letter can be viewed here.
• Finalized plans for a concerted grassroots campaign to meet with lawmakers throughout the summer to more clearly define and explain TMA’s position on various proposals to expand scope of practice for APRNS and other allied professionals to practice medicine independently. The TMA has standing policy to promote collaborative practice agreements between physicians and allied health professionals. This is at the request of TMA member and State Representative Bryan Terry. The Legislature considered eight different scope of practice bills in 2026 and it is expected that many of these bills and more will be introduced in 2027.
• Adopted TMA’s legislative agenda for the first session of the 115^thTennessee General Assembly, which includes the following issues:
  • Automatic downcoding by insurance companies
  • Increasing TennCare reimbursement for primary care specialties
  • Scope of practice defense
  • Legislation to recognize the TMA Vaccine Advisory Committee as the authority on proper rules and regulations with regard to the state’s ongoing vaccine requirements
• Dissolvement of the Physician Wellness Committee after a three-year trial due to lack of progress on objectives set forth by the House of Delegates and defined direction for continued projects moving forward. The committee was up for reconsideration and extension. Physician Wellness continues to be a priority issue for the association and TMA will continue to promote resources and collaborate with other partners to enhance awareness and expand access to existing resources.

Additionally, Board members engaged with TMA staff to complete leadership and team-building exercises to strengthen their collective collaboration. Networking opportunities during the weekend allowed leadership to create bonds with colleagues from across the state that ensures TMA operates as a unified voice.

The next Board of Trustees meeting will take place on Oct. 3 at the TMA headquarters in Nashville. For questions or more information, reach out to TMA’s Director of Executive Services and Governance, Amy Campoli, at amy.campoli@tnmed.org.