Law Allows Out-of-State Volunteers to Give Medical Help.

• Position: Brief Article

Outside a rural Tennessee health clinic, up to 300 adults and children line up before daybreak to receive free health care. This scene is nothing new in rural clinics across the country, where demand for medical care has furiously outpaced supply. Tennessee, however, has an advantage.

The General Assembly passed a law in 1995 that allows out-of-state providers to practice in the state-- without the hassle of having to obtain a Tennessee license. And it appears to be working well. The Volunteer Health Care Services Act opened doors to physicians, nurses, dentists, optometrists and others who are willing to volunteer their services to poor residents who are often unable to get care.

The legislation greased the wheels for volunteer organizations to send licensed providers into Tennessee. One such program--Remote Area Medical Volunteer Corps (RAM)-- has capitalized on providers' willingness to volunteer and a relaxed regulatory environment. Stan Brock, conservationist and former co-star of the television series Wild Kingdom, is the founder of RAM, He organized a mobile relief force that provides free medical care to more than 7,000 people across the world each year. More than half of the beneficiaries are rural Americans. RAM's 200-plus expeditions a year provide over $10 million worth of free health care, Brock said.

A majority of those expenditures are dedicated to providing dental and vision care...