Despite having some of the best health care companies in world, the people who live and work in Tennessee are not healthy.

Bad habits

Too many of us are too fat. Tennessee has the worst childhood obesity rate in the USA, and the fifth worst adult obesity rate. 

2. Hospital Association Says Tennesseans Could Lose Insurance - Monday, March 13, 2017

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – The Tennessee Hospital Association has come out against a new plan in Congress to repeal and replace the Obama health care law, saying the proposal poses "a dark forecast for the future of hospitals in Tennessee."

3. BCBS Bombshell Leaves Insurance Seekers in Bind - Thursday, October 20, 2016

Nashville resident Jennifer Murray is caught in the snare of uncertainty looming over Tennessee health insurance coverage.

Self-employed as a health care consultant, the single 48-year-old bought individual coverage through BlueCross BlueShield Tennessee’s marketplace plans each year since the Affordable Care Act took effect in 2014. The company offered the widest range of physicians, and its insurance was accepted in most places.

4. Task Force’s New Health Plan Promising - Thursday, July 7, 2016

A 3-Star Healthy Task Force appointed to propose a method for catching Tennesseans in a health care coverage gap is taking a politically safe road to reach the same goal as Insure Tennessee.

Yet the route, a TennCare expansion with “triggers” and “circuit breakers,” holds so much uncertainty it’s hard to figure out if the panel will find its destination.

5. Sledge Joins Paragon Private Banking Team - Wednesday, January 20, 2016

Julia Sledge has joined Paragon Bank as portfolio manager in private banking. Sledge has more than 30 years of experience in the banking industry, holding leadership positions at both Union Planters Bank and Cadence Bank. In her new role, she’ll provide service and support to Paragon’s private banking team.

6. Health Care Suffers As Rural Hospitals Continue Slow Fade - Thursday, September 10, 2015

Fayette County is the latest victim of hospital closings in Tennessee as many rural health care facilities continue to struggle financially.

Methodist Healthcare-Fayette Hospital closed in late March, bringing to four the number of shuttered hospitals in West Tennessee after Gibson General, Humboldt General and Haywood Park Community called it quits in 2014.

7. Dr. Neil Bomar Joins Support Solutions - Wednesday, April 22, 2015

Dr. Neil Bomar has joined Support Solutions as its first staff psychiatrist, a role in which he will help individuals with intellectual disabilities and those with a history of long-term mental illness who are currently supported by the organization. Bomar’s addition makes Support Solutions one of the only industry providers in the Mid-South to provide this level of support.

8. Both Sides Dig In for Insure Tennessee Special Session - Monday, February 2, 2015

Battle lines have been drawn for a Feb. 2 special session of the state Legislature to determine the fate of Gov. Bill Haslam’s Insure Tennessee proposal, which would use federal funds to catch some 280,000 working people falling through a health insurance coverage gap.

9. Both Sides Dig In For Insure Tennessee Special Session - Saturday, January 31, 2015

Battle lines have been drawn for a Feb. 2 special session of the state Legislature to determine the fate of Gov. Bill Haslam’s Insure Tennessee proposal, which would use federal funds to catch some 200,000 working people falling through a health insurance coverage gap.

10. Haslam Reaches Agreement to Expand Medicaid in Tennessee - Monday, December 15, 2014

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – Gov. Bill Haslam announced Monday that he has reached a deal to expand Medicaid in Tennessee after more than a year of discussions with federal officials.

The Republican's administration touted the plan as an alternative deal with federal officials. The two-year pilot program, dubbed Insure Tennessee, would provide coverage for the state's uninsured without creating new taxes for Tennesseans.

11. Tennessee Has Lowest Number of Uninsured in Decade - Wednesday, November 19, 2014

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – A new University of Tennessee report says the number of uninsured people in Tennessee has hit a 10-year low.

Media cited the study in reporting that the number of people without health insurance shrunk about 25 percent in the first year of the health insurance marketplace, which was implemented under the federal Affordable Care Act. It was the biggest drop since the university began collecting data 20 years ago.

12. Unintended Consequences: ER Visits Increase - Saturday, September 13, 2014

Hospital officials have been pushing for the state to expand Medicaid health care coverage for thousands of Tennessee’s poorest citizens, despite two significant and related concerns:

Expansion will lead to increased visits to the most expensive place in America for routine health care, the emergency room.

13. Coverage Gap Leaves Rural Tennessee Hospitals on Life Support - Saturday, September 13, 2014

Four rural hospitals have closed and dozens are at risk of shuttering: That’s the fallout, some say, from Gov. Bill Haslam’s decision not to join the Affordable Care Act in 2013 and tap into millions in promised federal funds for Tennessee’s financially-strapped health care institutions.

14. Fisher Joins Boy Scouts Chickasaw Council as CEO - Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Richard L. Fisher has joined the Chickasaw Council of the Boy Scouts of America as chief executive officer. In his new role, Fisher will extend character development and leadership skills to youth who live in the Chickasaw Council territory, which includes the Mississippi Delta, Memphis, and Shelby and Crittenden counties.

15. New Election Rules a Win for Labor Unions - Thursday, December 22, 2011

WASHINGTON (AP) – In a win for organized labor, the National Labor Relations Board on Wednesday approved sweeping new rules that would speed the pace of union elections, making it easier for unions to gain members at companies that have long rebuffed them.

16. Safety Net Hospitals Worried About Possible Cuts - Tuesday, November 22, 2011

NASHVILLE (AP) – TennCare could be in big trouble if Congress decides to decrease or stop providing matching money for provider fees.

Tennessee hospitals began using provider fees to prevent the state from losing federal money when the legislature slashed TennCare's budget, according to The Tennessean (http://tnne.ws/rNsj9v).

17. Money for Education Sought to Ease Nurse Shortage - Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Even though nursing has provided a haven from economic uncertainty for workers returning to the profession or delaying retirement, the shortage of nurses remains a real problem.

Tennessee is anticipated to have a shortage of 15,000 RNs in 10 years, according to projections by the federal government.

18. Kiesewetter Selected As Tennessee Bar Foundation Fellow - Thursday, March 11, 2010

Jay W. Kiesewetter of Kiesewetter Wise Kaplan Prather PLC has been selected as a fellow of the Tennessee Bar Foundation.

He is one of just 35 attorneys throughout the state honored this year with the invitation.

19. Brown's Independence Could Face Senate Test - Monday, February 8, 2010

WASHINGTON (AP) - Scott Brown says he's a different kind of Republican, a centrist willing to work with Senate Democrats to fix health care and the ailing economy.

20. Brown Taking Over Late Sen. Kennedy's Seat - Friday, February 5, 2010

WASHINGTON (AP) - Republican Scott Brown said fixing the nation's ailing economy would be his top priority as he prepared Thursday to take his Senate seat a week earlier than he had planned.

21. State Plans More Funding Cuts for MED - Wednesday, December 23, 2009

As officials at the Regional Medical Center at Memphis try to find solid footing for the hospital’s current financial woes, they worry about the quicksand that lies ahead.

The state is planning a second consecutive round of TennCare budget cuts that may be more severe than this year’s. TennCare has proposed for the 2011 fiscal year cuts totaling $212 million, including cuts in subsidies for safety net hospitals like The MED.

22. State Health Groups Assess Senate Bill - Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Like a ship that survived a storm by tossing cargo overboard, a scaled-down health care reform bill emerged from the U.S. Senate early Monday with no new public option insurance or expanded Medicare provision.

23. Events - Tuesday, June 16, 2009

The Greater Memphis Chamber Humana Health Series will be today from 7:30 a.m. to 9 a.m. at Crescent Club, Poplar Ave., Suite 909. The speaker panel will include Craig Becker of the Tennessee Hospital Association, Bob Gordon of Baptist Memorial Health Care and Dave Archer of Saint Francis Hospital. For reservations, contact Angela Michaels at 543-3546 or amichaels@memphischamber.com.

24. Events - Monday, June 15, 2009

The Greater Memphis Chamber will hold a metro mixer Wednesday from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Minglewood Hall, 1555 Madison Ave. Deadline for registration is today. To register, contact Tunga Lee at 543-3571 or tlee@memphischamber.com.

25. Tenn. Hospitals to Cut Staff, Services - Wednesday, December 31, 2008

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – More than half of the 82 hospitals that responded to a recent Tennessee Hospital Association survey have already cut staff, in the face of rising costs and tight revenue, with most of the rest considering cuts.

26. Archived Article: Editorial Q&a - Wednesday, April 14, 2004
MEMO TO:

Craig Becker is chief executive officer of the Tennessee Hospital Association. Since TennCare began in 1994, it has grown in both the number of people enrolled and the costs for services rendered. There has always been a difficult balanc...

27. Archived Article: Memos - Wednesday, May 21, 2003
James Pascover was appointed Better Business of the Mid-South director of marketing and communications

James Pascover was appointed Better Business Bureau of the Mid-South director of marketing and communications. Pascover brings more than 20 yea...

28. Archived Article: Marketplace (nurses) - Monday, July 13, 1998
By STACEY PETSCHAUER   Hospitals RN need By STACEY PETSCHAUER The Daily News Although nearly 80 percent of nurses once worked in a hospital setting, increased opportunities in the health care field have pulled many nurses out of the hospitals a...