To look up a health care term such as Actuary, choose the letter that the term begins with below under Alphabetical Glossary. This will take you to the terms beginning with that letter. To look up a health care acronym such as AIDS, choose the letter that the term begins with below under Acronyms. This will take you to all acronyms that begin with that letter.

24-Hour Coverage	In general, 24-hour coverage has been proposed as a type of health care system reform that integrates the health coverage and benefits currently offered by public and private insurance programs, state workers' compensation systems, and automobile insurance.
Table Rates	See age/sex rates.
Targeting	Process that directs the kinds of services, the concentration of programs and the distribution of funds at defined segments of the population. Also see greatest economic need.
Tax Cap	This would limit the amount of employer-sponsored health insurance to be excluded from taxable income. A tax cap could be for individuals or employers tax liabilities. There are two reasons for a tax cap: (1) to provide revenues to pay for the cost of covering uninsured and (2) to increase consumer awareness of costs.
Tax Credit	Amount that can be deducted from the actual tax owed.
Tax Deduction	Amount that can be deducted from taxable income, if spent on a specific purpose.
Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 1982 (TEFRA)	A Federal law that authorizes health plans to enter into arrangements with HCFA for cost and risk contracts.
Tax Incentives	Tax deductions, credits, and rebates affecting insurance benefit decisions.
Teaching Hospital	A hospital that has an accredited medical residency training program and is typically affiliated with a medical school.
Technology Assessment	The term used to describe the evaluation process of new or existing diagnostic and therapeutic devices and procedures. Technology assessment evaluates the effect of a medical procedure, diagnostic tool, medical device, or pharmaceutical product. In the past, technology assessment meant primarily evaluating new equipment, focusing on the clinical safety and efficacy of an intervention, in today's health care world, it includes a broader view of clinical outcomes, such as the effect on a patient's quality of life, and the effect on society.
Telemedicine	Health care consultation and education using telecommunication networks to transmit information.
Temporary Assistance to Need Families (TANF)	A state-based Federal cash assistance program for low-income families. TANF replaces the former cash assistance program known as Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC). Unlike the former AFDC program, eligibility for TANF does not automatically convey Medicaid eligibility. Low-income families can qualify for Medicaid based on the AFDC rules in effect in the State on July 16, 1996.
Tertiary Care	Highly specialized care given to patients who are in danger of disability or death often requiring sophisticated technologies (e.g., neurosurgeons or intensive care units).
Therapeutic Alternatives, Equivalents, or Substitution	A drug that is believed to be therapeutically equivalent (i.e., will achieve the same outcome) to the exact drug prescribed by a physician is substituted by the dispensing pharmacist without the need to obtain the physician's permission.
Therapeutic Devices	May include hospital beds, crutches, wheelchairs, ramps, intravenous pumps and respirators. Also see durable medical equipment and assistive technology.
Third-Party Administrator (TPA)	Claims administration service conducted by entities specializing in the management of self-insured benefit programs. The TPA may collect premiums, determine employee eligibility, determine covered services, pay claims, prepare management information reports and provide other administrative services. The TPA is often able to provide reinsurance brokering, cost containment programs, and a full range of employee communication programs. Insurers may sell administrative services to self-insured employers, but this is described as "administrative services only."
Third-Party Payor	An organization that pays for or underwrites coverage for health care expenses.
Third Party Payment	Payment by a private insurer or government program to a health care provider for care given to a patient.
Three Tier Rate	A rate structure that sets monthly premiums based on 1) single person coverage, 2) two-person coverage and 3) family coverage.
Title XVII	See Medicare.
Title XIX	See Medicaid.
Title XX	See Social Service Block Grant.
Title XXI	See Children's Health Insurance Program.
Tort	A negligent or intentional civil wrong not arising out of a contract or statute that injures someone in some way and for which the injured person may sue the wrongdoer for damages.
Tort Reform	Efforts to change the procedural or substantive rules for malpractice claims in the judicial system. Examples include reductions in statutes of limitations, mandatory offsets for collateral sources of payment, caps on non-economic damages, periodic payments of large awards, and limits on attorneys' contingency fees.
Total Compensation Package	The total amount of compensation received by a worker for services rendered including wages or salary and fringe benefits.
Trauma Center	An emergency room that is equipped and staffed to care for serious traumatic injuries. Emergency rooms are classified as Level 1, 2 and 3 trauma centers, with Level 1 being the highest care level. Generally, a Level 1 trauma center will be a large emergency room that has most medical specialties (especially trauma, surgery, orthopedics, and neurosurgery) available on-site or on short notice, has good access to CT Scanning and other technology such as MRI, and is able to care for multiple traumatic injuries of both blunt and penetrating nature.
Treatment Facility	A residential or non-residential facility or program licensed, certified or otherwise authorized to provide treatment of substance abuse or mental illness pursuant to the law or jurisdiction in which treatment is received.
Trend Factor	An adjustment factor to represent the predicted change in the level of costs for services from one period to another due to inflation and utilization increases.
Trending	A calculation used to anticipate future utilization of a group based on past utilization by applying trend factor, the rate at which direct and indirect medical costs are changing.
Triage	The process by which patients are sorted or classified according to the type and urgency of their conditions.
Triple Option Plan	An employee health benefit including an HMO, a PPO, and "traditional" fee-for-service insurance, underwritten by a single insurer. This mechanism enables the insurer to spread its risk. Once the employee elects the coverage option, the decision is locked in for the duration of the policy, usually one year.
Tumor Registrar	Identifies, registers and maintains records of all cancer patients by utilizing the tumor registry data system. Analyzes registry data and disseminates information in accordance with professional ethics.
Two Tier Rate	A rate structure that sets monthly premiums based on single person coverage and family coverage.