Tennessee Code Title 71. Welfare § 71-5-2004

(a) The annual coverage assessment established for this part is four and eighty-seven hundredths percent (4.87%) of a covered hospital's annual coverage assessment base.

(b) The annual coverage assessment must be paid in installments pursuant to this subsection (b) if the requirements of § 71-5-2003(b) have been satisfied. The bureau shall establish a schedule of four (4) equal installment payments spread as evenly as possible throughout FY 2023-2024 with each installment payment due fifteen (15) days after the FY 2023-2024 directed payments approved by CMS to offset unreimbursed TennCare costs that have been made to hospitals.

(c) To facilitate collection of the annual coverage assessment, the bureau shall send each covered hospital, at least thirty (30) days in advance of each installment payment due date, a notice of payment along with a return form developed by the bureau. Failure of a covered hospital to receive a notice and return form, however, does not relieve a covered hospital from the obligation of timely payment. The bureau shall also post the return form on its website.

(d) Failure of a covered hospital to pay an installment of the annual coverage assessment, when due, results in an imposition of a penalty of five hundred dollars ($500) per day until the installment is paid in full. The bureau at its discretion may waive the penalty if the hospital establishes that it attempted to mail or electronically transfer payment to the state on or before the date the payment was due.

(e) If a covered hospital ceases to operate or changes status to be an excluded hospital between July 1, 2023, and June 30, 2024, then the hospital's total annual coverage assessment is equal to its annual coverage assessment base multiplied by a fraction, the denominator of which is the number of calendar days from July 1, 2023, until July 1, 2024, and the numerator of which is the number of days from July 1, 2023, until the date the board for licensing healthcare facilities has recorded as the date that the hospital changed status or ceased operation.

(f) If a covered hospital ceases operation prior to payment of its full annual coverage assessment, then the person controlling the hospital as of the date the hospital ceased operation is jointly and severally responsible for any remaining annual coverage assessment installments and unpaid penalties associated with previous late payments.

(g) If a covered hospital is sold after July 1, 2023, and before July 1, 2024, then the seller is responsible for annual coverage assessment payments due for the period up to and including the date the sale is final. If the hospital continues to operate in this state and continues to meet the definition of a covered hospital, then the new owner is responsible for paying all coverage assessment amounts due for the period beginning on the day after the date of the sale until July 1, 2024.

(h) If a covered hospital fails to pay an installment of the annual coverage assessment within thirty (30) days of its due date, then the bureau must suspend the payments to the hospital as required by § 71-5-2005(d)(2) or (d)(3) until the installment is paid and report the failure to the department that licenses the covered hospital. Notwithstanding another law, failure of a covered hospital to pay an installment of the annual coverage assessment or a refund required by this part is considered a license deficiency and grounds for disciplinary action as set forth in the statutes and rules under which the covered hospital is licensed.

(i) In addition to the action required by subsection (h), the bureau is authorized to file a civil action against a covered hospital and its controlling person or persons to collect delinquent annual coverage assessment installments, late penalties, and refund obligations established by this part. Exclusive jurisdiction and venue for a civil action authorized by this subsection (i) is in the chancery court for Davidson County.

(k) A covered hospital or an association representing covered hospitals, the membership of which includes thirty (30) or more covered hospitals, has the right to file a petition for declaratory order pursuant to § 4-5-223 to determine if there has been a failure to meet the requirements of this part. A covered hospital shall not increase charges or add a surcharge based on, or as a result of, the annual coverage assessment.