48K Lost TennCare In June; Enrollment Numbers Remain At 1.76 Million
Image Credit: Medicaid by Nick Youngson CC BY-SA 3.0 Pix4free.org
The Center Square [By Jon Styf] –
More than 48,000 of the more than 150,000 up for TennCare renewal in June lost coverage, according to a new report from TennCare.
Every state is currently involved in a year-long process of checking Medicaid eligibility after those checks were halted between March 2020 to March 31 as COVID-19 health emergency rules blocked redetermination.
TennCare reviewed more than 313,000 members in the first three months, with 176,000 retaining coverage, another 85,000 deemed ineligible and more than 33,000 still pending a decision.
Despite the eligibility rulings, TennCare still had 1.76 million enrollees in August, barely down from a high of 1.79 million in June.
TennCare entered the redetermination process estimating that it would eventually see a drop down to pre-pandemic enrollment numbers of 1.3 million in Tennessee.
Medicaid enrollment in the United States peaked at more than 100 million, according to the Foundation for Government Accountability.
TennCare broke down some of its redetermination numbers by age, showing that more than 100,000 children up to age 19 have been renewed for eligibility and less than 25,000 have been deemed ineligible with approximately 10,000 still awaiting determination.
Of adults 19 to 64, just more than 50,000 have been renewed while about 60,000 were deemed ineligible and about 13,000 are awaiting a final determination.
About the Author: Jon Styf, The Center Square Staff Reporter – Jon Styf is an award-winning editor and reporter who has worked in Illinois, Texas, Wisconsin, Florida and Michigan in local newsrooms over the past 20 years, working for Shaw Media, Hearst and several other companies. Follow Jon on Twitter @JonStyf.
