Tennessee House Bill HB2337

Tennessee 2025-2026 Regular Session

• Introduced: 2/2/26
• Refer: 3/4/26
• Refer: 3/18/26
• Refer: 3/24/26
• Chaptered: 5/5/26
• Passed: 5/5/26

Caption

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 48, Chapter 68 and Title 68, Chapter 11, relative to hospitals.

Summary

HB2337 amends Tennessee’s nonprofit/public benefit hospital laws to create a special rule for a hospital that was established solely for the benefit of a county government and has an estimated sales value of more than $500 million. For such a hospital, the bill removes it from the existing public benefit hospital entity treatment under Tennessee Code Annotated § 48-68-206(a)(5), but only if the change is approved by a two-thirds vote of the affected county government’s legislative body. The bill also revises the statutory rule governing how proceeds from a hospital acquisition are handled. Under the amended language, acquisition proceeds generally must not be returned to a county or municipal government except to the extent needed to satisfy lawful obligations owed to that government. The measure is directed at hospital ownership, acquisition, and disposition issues, particularly where a large county-affiliated hospital is involved.

Impact

The bill changes Title 48, Chapter 68 of the Tennessee Code by carving out a narrow exception for certain large county-benefit hospitals from the existing public benefit hospital entity framework and by tightening the rule on distribution of acquisition proceeds. It affects hospitals, county governments, acquiring entities, and related nonprofit/public benefit structures, and it conditions the new treatment on local approval by a supermajority of the county legislative body. The bill does not amend clinical or licensing provisions in Title 68, Chapter 11, but it is part of the broader statutory framework governing hospitals and their transactions.

Sentiment

The available vote history shows strong support in committee, with unanimous or near-unanimous recommendations for passage in the House Health Subcommittee and House Health Committee. That suggests the bill was generally viewed favorably by lawmakers reviewing it. No committee transcript is available, so there is no recorded floor-level debate or detailed public discussion in the provided materials.

Contention

The main point of contention appears to be the targeted nature of the exception: the bill singles out hospitals established solely for the benefit of a county government and with an estimated sales value above $500 million, which may raise concerns about whether the legislation is tailored to a specific transaction or institution. Another possible issue is the restriction on returning acquisition proceeds to county or municipal governments, which could affect local fiscal interests. The bill addresses this by requiring approval from two-thirds of the affected county legislative body before the exception applies, indicating that local government consent was an important safeguard.