Updated September 12, 2026. Quick answer: Tennessee caps what a licensed healthcare facility may charge an uninsured patient at 175% of the facility’s own cost-to-charge ratio, and separately requires every facility to post a public statement of its charity-care policy.
This guide is limited to the two cited Tennessee statutes and their stated scope.
What changes in Tennessee
- A Tennessee healthcare facility licensed under Title 68, Chapter 11 (hospital, ambulatory surgery center, or outpatient diagnostic center) may not require an uninsured patient to pay more than 175% of the cost of the services provided, calculated from the cost-to-charge ratio in the facility’s most recent joint annual report to the Department of Health (T.C.A. § 68-11-262(a)).
- “Uninsured patient” is defined broadly: a person with no public or private source of payment for the services, including Medicare, TennCare, a contract of insurance, or an employer-sponsored health plan (§ 68-11-262(b)(3)).
- Separately, every licensed healthcare facility must develop a concise public statement of its charity-care policies, written so patients can assess the likely cost of care, and post that statement somewhere accessible to the public (§ 68-11-268).
Where this rule stops
These two sections are Tennessee’s only codified charity-care rules found this session: a charge cap that applies once you are billed as an uninsured patient, and a posting duty for whatever policy the facility already has. Tennessee does not set its own income-eligibility percentage for free or discounted care the way some states do, so who actually qualifies for that underlying policy, as opposed to the 175% cap on what they can be charged, is still governed by the facility’s own federal 501(r) policy.
Read it yourself
“Each healthcare facility licensed under this chapter shall be prohibited from requiring an uninsured patient to pay for services in an amount that exceeds one hundred seventy-five percent (175%) of the cost for the services provided, calculated using the cost to charge ratio in the most recent joint annual report.”
Tenn. Code Ann. § 68-11-262(a), (b)
“Each healthcare facility licensed under this chapter shall develop a concise statement of its charity care policies for use by members of the public so as to permit individuals to more accurately assess the potential cost for services provided at each institution. Every healthcare facility shall post this statement in a place accessible to the public.”
Tenn. Code Ann. § 68-11-268
How to verify before you apply
- Identify the hospital or facility covered by the source and obtain its current policy.
- Ask for the current written policy and application instructions.
- Compare the policy with the official source below before relying on any threshold, discount, or deadline.
Related hospital-assistance guides
Primary source
Read Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 68-11-262, 68-11-268 and Tenn. Code Ann. § 68-11-268. Verify the current official text and the facility’s current policy before acting; this is a source-backed planning guide, not individualized legal advice.