TBA Law Blog


Posted by: Stacey Shrader Joslin on Nov 7, 2023

Tennessee’s attorney general says the state needs to pay attention to concerns of East Tennesseans about Ballad Health, a state-approved hospital monopoly, Tennessee Lookout reports. In an interview with the news source, Jonathan Skrmetti said there “has to be a lot of thought given to where things are moving,” noting that “people in upper East Tennessee are not happy with the current situation.” Ballad operates without the fear of competition pursuant to an agreement with Skrmetti and the state Department of Health. In exchange, the company pledged to meet various charitable obligations and quality of health care requirements. Recent documents, however, show that Ballad fell short of charity care obligations by $148 million over four years and failed to meet 80% of the requirements to bolster care. Community complaints also have centered on staff shortages. Skrmetti declined to say whether his office would take any action against the company.