Tennessee Senate Bill SB2083

Tennessee 2025-2026 Regular Session

• Introduced: 1/22/26
• Engrossed: 4/6/26
• Enrolled: 4/23/26

Caption

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 68, Chapter 11, relative to healthcare facilities.

Summary

SB2083 amends Tennessee’s definition of a “home for the aged” in the state health facilities code. The bill keeps the basic definition of such a facility as one that primarily serves aged persons with relatively permanent domiciliary care and provides room, board, and personal services, but it adds a new classification system that divides these homes into two tiers based on the number of nonrelated residents housed. Under the bill, a home for the aged with five or fewer nonrelated persons is classified as a tier 1 home for the aged, while a home housing six or more nonrelated persons is classified as a tier 2 home for the aged. The measure is a technical but meaningful change to the regulatory framework for residential elder-care facilities, and it would affect how these facilities are categorized under Tennessee law and potentially how they are regulated, licensed, or inspected under related provisions. The available voting history suggests broad support for the bill. The Senate Health and Welfare Committee recommended passage unanimously, and the floor vote to adopt also passed unanimously. No committee transcripts were provided, so there is no recorded debate in the supplied materials, but the vote totals indicate the bill was not controversial in the legislative process reflected here. Because the bill is narrowly focused on facility classification rather than changing substantive care standards, the main point of possible contention would be how the new tier structure is applied to small residential elder-care homes and whether the threshold of five versus six nonrelated residents appropriately distinguishes different levels of oversight. However, no opposition or specific objections appear in the provided record.

Impact

SB2083 amends Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 68, Chapter 11, by revising the statutory definition of “home for the aged” and creating two categories: tier 1 for homes with five or fewer nonrelated residents and tier 2 for homes with six or more. This change affects the legal classification of elder-care facilities and may influence how state health and licensing authorities apply regulatory requirements to these homes under related statutes and rules.

Sentiment

The bill appears to have received strong, bipartisan or at least unanimous support in the available legislative record. It passed the Senate Health and Welfare Committee 9-0 and later cleared a floor motion to adopt 32-0. With no committee transcript or recorded objections provided, the overall sentiment in the materials is favorable and noncontroversial.

Contention

No explicit controversy is documented in the provided materials. The only likely area of discussion is the new threshold separating tier 1 and tier 2 homes for the aged, since that classification could affect small residential elder-care providers and the scope of state oversight. Any contention would likely center on whether the five-person cutoff is the right dividing line and what regulatory consequences follow from the new tiers, but no opposing arguments are included in the record.