TennCare Enrollment Remains Above 1.7M Despite Nearly 150K Losing Eligibility
Image Credit: Medicaid by Nick Youngson CC BY-SA 3.0 Pix4free
The Center Square [By Jon Styf] –
Tennessee has yet to see an expected large downtick in Medicaid enrollment in the state as it continues to review the eligibility of those on the program.
Through July, TennCare had gone through the annual renewal process of more than 468,000 TennCare recipients and found nearly 275,000 were still eligible, nearly 147,000 were ineligible and nearly 47,000 are still pending a final ruling through the end of July.
TennCare enrollment rose from 1.3 million to nearly 1.8 million during a pandemic pause on the annual eligibility review between March 2020 to March 31 as COVID-19 health emergency rules blocked redetermination.
Enrollment hit an all-time high of 1.79 million in June but remained at 1.73 million in the most recent numbers from September.
TennCare had expected enrollment to drop back down to 1.3 million after the first full year of redetermination.
TennCare broke down some of its redetermination numbers by age in its Oct. 10 report through July’s redetermination, showing about 175,000 children up to age 19 have been renewed for eligibility and around 30,000 have been deemed ineligible with about 15,000 still awaiting determination.
Of adults 19 to 64, around 75,000 have been renewed while about 80,000 were deemed ineligible and about 15,000 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.
