Tennessee Health Care Campaign

Working for fairness & justice...

The Tennessee Health Care Campaign (THCC) is the only statewide group in Tennessee building a movement for health care justice. Our mission is for everyone to have guaranteed affordable choice in health care. 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.

Acting for practical purpose...

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.

Uniting for the common good...

THCC has a history of uniting with local, state, and national groups for strategic policy efforts (e.g., writing legislation, lobbying) and strategic communications (e.g., news conferences, story-banking, public forums).

THCC partners & allies include:
• AARP
• ADAPT
• Black Children’s Institute
• Catholic Charities
• Centers for Independent Living (Jackson, Memphis, Nashville)
• Children’s Defense Fund (CDF)
• Disability Resource Ctr. (Knoxville)
• Epilepsy Foundation
• Families USA
• Head Start TN
• Health Access TN
• Health Care Now for America Now (HCAN)
• League of Women Voters
• Matthew Walker Health Center
• Memphis Area Minority Health Coalition
• Ministerial Interfaith Fellowship (IMF)
• NAACP
• Nashville Peace & Justice Ctr.
• National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI)

• National Assn of Social Workers (NASW)
• National Kidney Foundation
• Physicians for National Health Program (PNHP)
• Progressive Baptist Church (Nashville)
• Prevent Child Abuse TN
• SEIU
• Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC)
• TN Commission on Children & Youth
• TN Voices for Children
• TN Conference on Social Welfare
• TN Council on Developmental Disabilities
• TN Citizen Action
• TN Disability Coalition
• TN Hospital Assn.
• TN Justice Center (TJC)
• TN Labor Council
• TN Primary Care Assn.
• Universal Health Care Action Network (UHCAN)
• University of TN Division of Neonatology

20 years of health care justice...

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 (TennCare) to expand coverage to adults & children (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)