Senate Bill 2070, known as the "Stopping Health Insurers from Excluding Legal Decisions (SHIELD) Act," aims to protect healthcare providers from penalties related to patient vaccination exemptions. The bill introduces a new section to Tennessee Code Annotated, which prohibits health insurance entities from including exempt patients—those who decline vaccinations for religious or medical reasons—in the calculation of quality measures, ratings, or reimbursement tiers. If a healthcare provider documents a patient's exempt status, the insurance entity must exclude that patient from any vaccination-related performance metrics.

Additionally, the bill ensures that healthcare providers cannot be penalized, such as through reduced reimbursement rates or termination from networks, solely for having exempt patients in their practice. It also clarifies that any claims denied or reduced in violation of these provisions are considered "clean claims" and are subject to interest penalties and remediation requirements. The act is set to take effect on July 1, 2026, and will apply to contracts entered into or renewed after that date.