Tennessee Temporarily Halts Court-Ordered Reverification of TennCare Beneficiaries
Officials of TennCare, Tennessee's Medicaid managed care program, have temporarily suspended until July 1 eligibility reverification of enrolled beneficiaries who are categorically ineligible for Medicaid in order to shift the process from county health departments to the state Department of Human Services, the Memphis Commercial Appeal reports. The shift will create a "unified reverification process" at the state health department, which already determines eligibility for Medicaid-eligible TennCare beneficiaries, as well as for residents applying for other state assistance programs (Wade, Memphis Commercial Appeal, 5/3). TennCare beneficiaries are required to reverify their eligibility on an annual basis through in-person interviews. In December, however, the state began "a new round" of eligibility redetermination (De la Cruz, Nashville Tennessean, 5/3). Under the court-approved plan, the state started the reverification process for non-Medicaid-eligible beneficiaries last December, and since then, 80,000 people have been found ineligible and dropped from the program (Memphis Commercial Appeal, 5/3). While the verification process is suspended, the state also will have time to hire an additional 227 employees who will work on the process (Nashville Tennessean, 5/3).
Advocates Decry Shift, Delay
TennCare advocates have criticized the transfer of the reverification process to the DHS. In a letter to state lawmakers, a coalition of advocacy groups, including the AARP, Tennessee Citizen Action and the Tennessee Health Care Campaign, said: "DHS has not demonstrated its ability to manage even the Medicaid population, much less all TennCare enrollees." The letter also noted that there are often long waits for service at the state health department (Memphis Commercial Appeal, 5/3). The groups added that because of the delay, the state might continue paying longer than necessary for beneficiaries who are no longer eligible for TennCare (Nashville Tennessean, 5/3).
