(a) As used in this section:(1) 'Governmental entity' includes a county or municipal government;(2) 'Public hospital' means a hospital located in a county having a metropolitan form of government with a population of more than five hundred thousand (500,000), according to the 2020 federal census or any subsequent federal census, and that is owned by a metropolitan hospital authority created under the Metropolitan Hospital Authority Act, compiled in title 7, chapter 57; and(3) 'State employee' includes a university employee and an employee under the state board of regents.(b) Public hospitals have the authority, upon approval of the hospital's governing body, to establish a state employee and retiree healthcare incentive program that will allow for the waiver of applicable out-of-pocket expenses associated with medical, surgical, or mental health care at the public hospital, including deductibles, except those deductibles associated with a high deductible plan, copays, and co-insurance, for state employees and retirees and their covered dependents participating in the state group insurance plan under this part.Added by 2024 Tenn. Acts, ch. 1036,s 1, eff. 7/1/2024.
Tennessee Legal Code