Advocacy
Better Healthcare for Mid-Southerners and Tennesseans
The Memphis Medical Society and Tennessee Medical Association advocate for policies, laws and rules that promote healthcare safety and quality for all Tennesseans and improve the non-clinical aspects of practicing medicine.
MEMPAC
MEMPAC is the Political Action Committee component of Memphis Medical Society. It exists to advance the legislative interests of Shelby County physicians. It is a non-partisan PAC.
Organized Medicine Works
The Memphis Medical Society and Tennessee Medical Association are dedicated to enhancing the effectiveness and well-being of members while protecting the health care interests of patients. We are strongest when we work together and when organized medicine represents all doctors, regardless of specialty differences, practice affiliation or political parties. We are the only unified group in Tennessee fighting for doctors.
Memphis physician leaders work with the TMA advocacy team, state lawmakers and other organizations to achieve members’ legislative priorities as defined by the Legislative Committee, Board of Trustees and House of Delegates. In 2019, TMA was named the most influential advocacy organization on Capitol Hill by Capitol Resources, LLC. TMA’s lobbyists review hundreds of bills each year to identify measures that promote or threaten good healthcare policies, and then organize member physicians and organizations to help carry TMA’s support or opposition.
Our Legislative Priorities
2025 Priorities
- Access to TennCare – As physicians struggle to keep practices open amid growing inflation, limiting the number of Medicaid patients one accepts is often the first stopgap in reducing revenue loss. Memphis Medical Society and TMA will advocate for changes in the TennCare program for direct patient care providers to help narrow disparities in access between publicly and privately insured individuals.
- Prior Authorization Notice – In 2022, the Tennessee General Assembly passed legislation requiring both health care providers and health plans to notify patients when further information is needed to obtain a prior authorization approval. The law not only confuses patients, but it creates unnecessary administrative burden for the entity that has not requested anything— most often the physician. MMS and TMA will amend the current statute to clarify that only the entity requesting additional information be responsible for notifying the patient.
- Lethal Fetal Anomalies – A 2024 TMA survey showed that nearly 83% of physician respondents feel the Human Life Protection Act does not offer sufficient legal protections to lawfully terminate pregnancies to save the life or prevent irreversible impairment of major bodily function of the mother. TMA will work to further clarify the law by codifying specific situations in which termination may be medically necessary, such as fetal anomalies that are incompatible with life outside the womb.
- Scope of Practice – protecting patients through conserving the integrity of the medical license.
- Tort Reform – TMA was the leader of Tort reform in our state, resulting in hundreds of thousands of dollars in savings for physicians. Many Memphis physicians played pivotal roles in shaping the new policy. This contributes to Tennessee continuing to be one of the best states for physicians to practice. This issue requires constant monitoring, as other groups occasionally emerge to challenge Tennessee’s liability statutes.
- Physician Wellness – we have increased awareness of the stressors our members face, which contribute to burnout and often early retirement.
- Click here for a more recent comprehensive list from TMA’s Legislative Report Card.
