Terms Used In Tennessee Code > Title 68 > Health > Chapter 15 - Miscellaneous Sanitary Regulations

• Administrator: means :
  (A) An individual, either employed by, or contracted with, the sponsor or the plan to provide administrative services on behalf of the plan. See Tennessee Code 8-27-901
• Affidavit: A written statement of facts confirmed by the oath of the party making it, before a notary or officer having authority to administer oaths.
• Amendment: A proposal to alter the text of a pending bill or other measure by striking out some of it, by inserting new language, or both. Before an amendment becomes part of the measure, thelegislature must agree to it.
• Answer: The formal written statement by a defendant responding to a civil complaint and setting forth the grounds for defense.
• Appeal: A request made after a trial, asking another court (usually the court of appeals) to decide whether the trial was conducted properly. To make such a request is "to appeal" or "to take an appeal." One who appeals is called the appellant.
• Appointing authority: means a commissioner, department, officer or agency having power to make appointments to, and separations from, positions in state service. See Tennessee Code 8-30-103
• Attorney general: means the attorney general and reporter and any assistant thereto by whatever name known, any district attorney general and any assistant thereto by whatever name called, and any officer or full-time employee of the general assembly or any committee thereof established by statute, who is duly licensed to practice law in Tennessee, whose duty it is to provide facilities for drafting bills or to assist individual legislators in drafting bills or who renders legal advice and services to the members of the general assembly or committees thereof. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
• Bedding: means any mattress, mattress pad, mattress protector pad, box spring, upholstered spring, upholstered sofa bed, quilted pad, comforter, bolster, cushion, pillow, featherbed, sleeping bag, or any other bag, case, or covering that is:
  (A) Made of leather, textile, or other material. See Tennessee Code 68-15-201
• board: means the board provided for in part 3 of this chapter. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
• Comfort exchange policy: means a policy offered by a mattress manufacturer, wholesaler or retailer to a mattress buyer authorizing the buyer to exchange the mattress for a different firmness or for other reasons, within a certain period. See Tennessee Code 68-15-201
• Commissioner: refers to the commissioner of human resources appointed under §. See Tennessee Code 8-30-103
• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Days: means calendar days, unless otherwise noted. See Tennessee Code 8-27-901
• Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
• Department: refers to the department of human resources pursuant to §. See Tennessee Code 8-30-103
• Dismissal: The dropping of a case by the judge without further consideration or hearing. ^Source:
• Equitable: Pertaining to civil suits in "equity" rather than in "law." In English legal history, the courts of "law" could order the payment of damages and could afford no other remedy. See damages. A separate court of "equity" could order someone to do something or to cease to do something. See, e.g., injunction. In American jurisprudence, the federal courts have both legal and equitable power, but the distinction is still an important one. For example, a trial by jury is normally available in "law" cases but not in "equity" cases. ^{Source: U.S. Courts}
• Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
• Filling material: means :
  (A) Hair. See Tennessee Code 68-15-201
• Guardian: A person legally empowered and charged with the duty of taking care of and managing the property of another person who because of age, intellect, or health, is incapable of managing his (her) own affairs.
• Injunction: An order of the court prohibiting (or compelling) the performance of a specific act to prevent irreparable damage or injury.
• Insured: means any individual, other than the primary insured, who receives benefits under the plan. See Tennessee Code 8-27-901
• Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
• Lawsuit: A legal action started by a plaintiff against a defendant based on a complaint that the defendant failed to perform a legal duty, resulting in harm to the plaintiff.
• Lease: A contract transferring the use of property or occupancy of land, space, structures, or equipment in consideration of a payment (e.g., rent). ^{Source: OCC}
• Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
• Mattress: means any quilted pad, mattress, mattress pad, bunk quilt or cushion, stuffed and filled with wool, hair or other soft material, to be used on a couch or other bed for sleeping or reclining purposes. See Tennessee Code 68-15-201
• New: means an article of bedding or filling material that has not been previously used for any purpose. See Tennessee Code 68-15-201
• Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
• Oversight: Committee review of the activities of a Federal agency or program.
• Partnership: A voluntary contract between two or more persons to pool some or all of their assets into a business, with the agreement that there will be a proportional sharing of profits and losses.
• Person: includes a corporation, firm, company or association. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Plain language: means writing designed to ensure the reader understands the meaning of the passage as quickly, easily, and completely as possible, avoiding verbose, convoluted language, and jargon. See Tennessee Code 8-27-901
• Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
• plan: includes those to which the primary insured pays to the plan a nominal fee for the primary insured and any insureds whose relationship to the primary insured allows them to receive benefits under the plan. See Tennessee Code 8-27-901
• Plan document: means a document by which a plan is established and operated. See Tennessee Code 8-27-901
• Plan participant: means either a primary insured or insured. See Tennessee Code 8-27-901
• Pleadings: Written statements of the parties in a civil case of their positions. In the federal courts, the principal pleadings are the complaint and the answer.
• Power of attorney: A written instrument which authorizes one person to act as another's agent or attorney. The power of attorney may be for a definite, specific act, or it may be general in nature. The terms of the written power of attorney may specify when it will expire. If not, the power of attorney usually expires when the person granting it dies. ^{Source: OCC}
• Preferred service: means all offices and positions of employment in the state service that have been placed under the preferred service provisions of this chapter. See Tennessee Code 8-30-103
• Primary insured: means the individual employed by, or contracted with, the sponsor and to whom, based on the individual's status as an employee or contractor, the plan provides benefits. See Tennessee Code 8-27-901
• Property: includes both personal and real property. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Record: means information that is inscribed on a tangible medium or that is stored in an electronic or other medium and is retrievable in a perceivable form. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Recourse: An arrangement in which a bank retains, in form or in substance, any credit risk directly or indirectly associated with an asset it has sold (in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles) that exceeds a pro rata share of the bank's claim on the asset. If a bank has no claim on an asset it has sold, then the retention of any credit risk is recourse. ^{Source: FDIC}
• Reimbursement interest: means the plan's right of recovery of benefit amounts paid by the plan on behalf of the plan participant from the participant's recovery from a third-party tortfeasor arising from the injury or illness of the plan participant caused by such tortfeasor. See Tennessee Code 8-27-901
• Reporter: Makes a record of court proceedings and prepares a transcript, and also publishes the court's opinions or decisions (in the courts of appeals).
• Representative: when applied to those who represent a decedent, includes executors and administrators, unless the context implies heirs and distributees. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• RSRI: means a form drafted by the plan in plain language and included in the SPD that the plan participant, their attorney, or other party in interest, may use to request that the plan provides notice of its subrogation or reimbursement interest. See Tennessee Code 8-27-901
• sale: includes any of the following activities, or any combination of them:
  (A) Sell. See Tennessee Code 68-15-201
• Secondhand: means any article of bedding or material, or part of bedding or material, of which prior use of any kind has been made, including, but not limited to, a mattress that has been returned by a buyer to a manufacturer, wholesaler, or retailer pursuant to a comfort exchange policy. See Tennessee Code 68-15-201
• Service: means service as a general employee, a teacher, a state police officer, a wildlife officer, a firefighter, a police officer, a state judge, a county judge, an attorney general, a commissioner or a county official which is paid for by an employer, and also includes service for which a former member of the general assembly is entitled to under former §. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
• Service of process: The service of writs or summonses to the appropriate party.
• Settlement: means an agreement reached between a plan participant and the plan, or between the plan participant and a third-party tortfeasor or the third-party insurer, or both. See Tennessee Code 8-27-901
• Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.
• signed: includes a mark, the name being written near the mark and witnessed, or any other symbol or methodology executed or adopted by a party with intention to authenticate a writing or record, regardless of being witnessed. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• SMM: means a summary of any material amendment to the plan adopted by the sponsor, including, but not limited to, changes in deductibles, co-pays, and eligibility requirements. See Tennessee Code 8-27-901
• SPD: means a summary of the plan document, which may or may not be part of the plan document. See Tennessee Code 8-27-901
• Sponsor: means a county, municipality, municipal corporation, or special school district in this state that establishes and funds a plan. See Tennessee Code 8-27-901
• State: means the state of Tennessee. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
• State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• State agency: means an authority, board, branch, commission, committee, department, division, or other instrumentality in state service that is subject to this chapter. See Tennessee Code 8-30-103
• Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
• Subrogation interest: means the right to recovery that the plan has in any litigation or settlement arising from the injury or illness of a plan participant caused by a third-party tortfeasor. See Tennessee Code 8-27-901
• Summons: Another word for subpoena used by the criminal justice system.
• third party: means a person or entity that contracts with either the plan or the third-party administrator to provide payment for claims of healthcare items or services for plan participants. See Tennessee Code 8-27-901
• Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
• Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
• United States: includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Verdict: The decision of a petit jury or a judge.
• Writ: A formal written command, issued from the court, requiring the performance of a specific act.
• written: includes printing, typewriting, engraving, lithography, and any other mode of representing words and letters. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105